It's quite possible they'll separate out a Cold Weather Package by the time they start delivering to Norway and Canada more than a year from now.
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It's quite possible they'll separate out a Cold Weather Package by the time they start delivering to Norway and Canada more than a year from now.
timk225
Active Member
No heated steering wheel? What kind of crybaby wuss are you? My wife puts this thin fabric cover over her steering wheel all the time, so thin it cannot possibly do anything for heat. I just stay quiet and let it go.
I've driven in Pittsburgh winters for many years and never needed a heated steering wheel.
No heated steering wheel..... talk about first world problems..... SMH.....
I've driven in Pittsburgh winters for many years and never needed a heated steering wheel.
No heated steering wheel..... talk about first world problems..... SMH.....
Funny S'toons. But anything around freezing is cold to the body. We're from back east so lived with snow and ice and I remember some minus teens and -20s in Ohio and Chicago area, which is why we live here now LOL. You just wear more layers of clothes than we do. Lots of people here wear hats, scarfs, parka and gloves and oh my god even long underwear. I happen to like to wear socks under my birkenstock sandals or clogs. Never had heated steering wheels or seats back when we lived in the East but yes, they are appreciated when you have them. Just like the ventilated seats are during the really hot summer weather here.
BTW we even added the cold-weather package when we ordered our 75D as it didn't come included in the PUP we ordered. Believe it ran an extra $1000. Hopefully they will offer it as a separate package on the 3. I suspect it's just a matter of time and wanting to get the most cars out to people now who would order without it. Who knows maybe the lack of it now has something to do with the new flexible "wiring" system I was reading about a few weeks ago in an article about Tesla. I can see that as a possibility instead of having to change the wiring midstream when they have so many orders and impatient future owners out there.
Never had heated steering wheels or seats back when we lived in the East but yes, they are appreciated when you have them. Just like the ventilated seats are during the really hot summer weather here.BTW we even added the cold-weather package when we ordered our 75D as it didn't come included in the PUP we ordered. Believe it ran an extra $1000. Hopefully they will offer it as a separate package on the 3. I suspect it's just a matter of time and wanting to get the most cars out to people now who would order without it. Who knows maybe the lack of it now has something to do with the new flexible "wiring" system I was reading about a few weeks ago in an article about Tesla. I can see that as a possibility instead of having to change the wiring midstream when they have so many orders and impatient future owners out there.
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Garlan Garner
Banned
Yeah the Bolt and Leaf might have heated steering wheels, but at least in a Tesla you can sit on your hands and keep them warm and not have to touch the steering wheel if you don't want to.
I guess we have a somewhat uncommon situation. My wife suffers from Raynaud syndrome (hands get cold and can't warm up and they hurt). The heated steering wheel really helps that more than gloves or cabin pre-heating does. This is why we are considering a Leaf 2.0 instead of a Model 3. I offered to give her my Model S (w/ heated steering wheel), but she doesn't like the S because she isn't comfortable driving a large car. She might just get the initial production Model 3 and upgrade to a newer model later if the heated steering wheel comes out later.
Garlan Garner
Banned
Insight75
Member
Oh well....it is what it is...... Now on to rain sensing wipers.....still waiting for this in my Model X......
I’m betting it won’t be heated. I have no reason to think this other than a gut feeling.
Tim Alguire
Member
For those of you in cold climates, don't knock it until you try it. I thought heated steering wheels were a gimmick until I got one. My hands are warmer with the heater on and no gloves, than with gloves (heated wheel or not). It's like a heated seat vs a heater, beneficial to warm at the point of contact. It's not just for commutes either, go for a long drive when it's -10 F and 40 mph winds. Cabin may be toasty, but that's some cold air wafting off the windshield. I've turned it back on for a few minutes to take the edge off after having been driving for a few hours.
The Bolt and Volt can do remote starts and preheating via a phone app.
Regardless, it's a pretty big waste of energy to preheat an entire cabin, especially when taking a relatively short trip, compared to using heated seats and steering wheel to stay comfy for just a while. And it would take much longer than 5 minutes, and correspondingly more energy, to heat up a cold steering wheel via general cabin heating alone.
And since not all gloves work well (or at all) with touchscreens, couldn't you say that a heated steering wheel would be uniquely important/valuable on the Model 3 vs almost every other non-Tesla EV or PHEV that has more conventional button and knob controls?
The 3 really should have a heated steering wheel, it's absence would be strange but it's along the same line as missing ventilated seats in the S/X. On the other hand this "oh well you can preheat or cool it" excuse is getting old. I'm a Tesla fan and investor but there are some times that some on this forum just make excuses for them.
Interesting. I've lived in CA my entire life so the steering wheel is only a problem in the summer when the car is over 100 degrees. Climate control should take care of that though.
Just like ventilated seats, a cooled steering wheel would be useful in that scenario.
AC cools the air in the car faster/better than it cools the materials you touch.
Same with heating.
Agreed. Why not just call a missing feature, well, a missing feature. It is OK to notice and call out a compromise.
Now, that said, as helpful advice mentioning pre-heating is of course good. It won't replace direct heat on the surfaces, but given enough time it does help.
For those who dismissed the heated steering wheel feature, you are lucky to be in a climate which does not need it or you haven't tried it.
For me, heated steering wheel is right up at the TOP of my required feature - to the point that I may not buy the Model 3 if it does not have that feature.
Yes, it is THAT important to me.
Though I am doubtful, but I am willing to check out if a pre-heat cabin would reduce the need for heated steering wheel.
And has a dangling cord from the steering wheel? NO, THANKS!
The missing Homelink is also disappointing, but I can still deal with it.
OTOH, the missing heated steering wheel could be a deal breaker for me.
For me, heated steering wheel is right up at the TOP of my required feature - to the point that I may not buy the Model 3 if it does not have that feature.
Yes, it is THAT important to me.
Though I am doubtful, but I am willing to check out if a pre-heat cabin would reduce the need for heated steering wheel.
And has a dangling cord from the steering wheel? NO, THANKS!
The missing Homelink is also disappointing, but I can still deal with it.
OTOH, the missing heated steering wheel could be a deal breaker for me.
I came from a line of heated steering wheel ICE cars (last one of those was an Audi A8) to the Model S P85 back in 2014, before heated steering wheels were available on the Model S.
Pre-heating helps, certainly it does. If the whole cabin is toasty, which it definitely can get to given - say - half an hour, it doesn't really matter that much if steering wheel can't be heated. It will feel colder to the touch, so not that luxury feel, but not necessarily cold.
Same with pre-cooling. It does not make leather(ette) suddenly nice and suitably cold to the touch, so it won't replace the need for good ventilated seats, but sure it helps a lot.
My Model X has both heated steering and ventilated seats and, given choice, I prefer it that way - they still serve a purpose when pre-heating/cooling is not practical (which for me seems to be often as I never seem to be able to plan when I leave exactly), yet even with pre-heating/cooling there is a reason for them...
Someone put it well, why heated steering wheel and ventilated seats are needed: even if the car is pre-heated or pre-cooled, the driver is not. If your hands are freezing when you get in the car - or you are sweatty after a run in the summer - having the ability to heat or cool the surfaces you touch is helpful, because it helps you personally reach a nicer temperature (or at least a sense of nicer temperature) sooner.
That's why some people like to set up a fire after coming in from the cold to the cabin and warm hands over it, even if the interior is warm in itself. Direct heat (or direct air in the form of fans in the summer) serves a different purpose than indirect one.
Always good to have the option, then.
Tesla's California background shows. The pre-heating is really an afterthought and seems like a byproduct of the pre-cooling feature. If Tesla lived and breathed cold climates, they would have started with pre-heating the windows (operating rear window heater as well as blowing maximum air at windows), then perhaps moved to pre-heating the seats and steering wheel over remote, but none of these can be done specifically remotely.
Indeed getting a Model S/X to maintain maximum blow on windows (those who live in cold know why) in a cold morning is hard if you need to step out to clear the windows... It just keeps turning off.
Yes, a California car.
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mtndrew1
Active Member
I think this is the only genuine Model 3 disappointment for me as my current car has a heated wheel and I really like the feature. Hopefully it’s just a typo like the standard heated front seats without PUP being left off the specs page even though they’re listed on the configurator.
skitown
Member
Maybe *everyone* would be happier if Tesla didn't reel the Model 3 launch date in by what, ~1.5-2 years? Then we could all order everything we want in a big "TA-DA" moment in 2019!
Glass half-full: Tesla is way ahead of the original schedule that I bought into when I reserved, so the current situation seems both reasonable and logical. I'm happy.
Glass half-empty: What I want isn't available in this first wave, so I'm going to cancel. I'm sad.
Glass half-full: Tesla is way ahead of the original schedule that I bought into when I reserved, so the current situation seems both reasonable and logical. I'm happy.
Glass half-empty: What I want isn't available in this first wave, so I'm going to cancel. I'm sad.
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