Retrofit heated steering wheel ?

[Joesmoe3]

The Chevy BOLT has heated steering wheels on every car, and they say it is much preferable to use the heated steering wheel and heated seats over cabin heat from an overall energy perspective. I found it curious that my 2020 Model 3 did not. Perhaps the difference is the engineers for BOLT live in Michigan and their counterparts at Tesla live in California.

Any practical way to add this to the car (oh, and, I’m not a fan of the yoke design - if it were round, mimicking the OEM, I’d be more interested) ?

 

[EV_Travels]

The Bolt also has a smaller battery and shorter range so they need every kW they can get. Our company has a Bolt and it's also very slow to charge. I use full cabin heat in the winter (below 0 temps) in my 3 and still have plenty of range to the next super charger.

 

[RTPEV]

Once you've used a heated steering wheel, it becomes somewhat of an indispensable luxury. My 2012 Nissan LEAF had one, as did my wife's 2013. We both grew very accustomed to having them. Then she got a Chevy Volt which did not have one. I did find a steering wheel wrap that plugged in to the 12V outlet, but I wouldn't recommend this solution. It made the steering wheel super thick and it wasn't really all that effective.

Now I have a 2018 Model 3 without the heated steering wheel and my wife has a Model Y with one. I sure do appreciate being able to use it when I'm in her car!

 

[Aellinsar]

Now I have a 2018 Model 3 without the heated steering wheel and my wife has a Model Y with one. I sure do appreciate being able to use it when I'm in her car!

I had a 2018 Model 3 as well, and now have a 2022 with one and I love it. If I could only have either the heated steering wheel or the heated seats, I'd take the heated steering wheel.

 

[jjrandorin]

The Chevy BOLT has heated steering wheels on every car, and they say it is much preferable to use the heated steering wheel and heated seats over cabin heat from an overall energy perspective. I found it curious that my 2020 Model 3 did not. Perhaps the difference is the engineers for BOLT live in Michigan and their counterparts at Tesla live in California.

Any practical way to add this to the car (oh, and, I’m not a fan of the yoke design - if it were round, mimicking the OEM, I’d be more interested) ?

I think Tesla agreed with you since they added it as a feature on later model 3s. I thought I had seen some threads discussing this but cant find them. I dont remember if its possible or not, but totally understand why you or others would want it.

EDIT: I found the giant heated steering wheel thread I was thinking about but its 34 pages long and a lot of it is discussion on if a car has one or not.

Perhaps @Durzel might know if Tesla ever allowed a heated steering wheel retrofit?

 

[Candleflame]

ironically its not really needed in heat pump cars. the only way to get it on older cars is to use a canbus server and i.e. link that up to one of the seat heaters. retrofit isnt possible as such as the wireing harness is different

 

[st_o_p]

I'd actually buy a retrofit that connects a heated steering wheel to the same control as the drivers heated seat. Don't expect anyone would offer one though.

As to all the "not really necessary" comments - I can't believe people - and also Tesla designers make decisions based on that. Very few things in life are "really necessary". But this is a consumer product and we still want those. That's why Elon's "delete" logic works so poorly on Tesla; this is not a spaceship where all that matters is if it works; that's my car that I'm driving and I want blinkers on stalks and parking sensors - and heated steering wheel - even though someone thinks it's ok to delete.

 

[Gasaraki]

I'd actually buy a retrofit that connects a heated steering wheel to the same control as the drivers heated seat. Don't expect anyone would offer one though.

As to all the "not really necessary" comments - I can't believe people - and also Tesla designers make decisions based on that. Very few things in life are "really necessary". But this is a consumer product and we still want those. That's why Elon's "delete" logic works so poorly on Tesla; this is not a spaceship where all that matters is if it works; that's my car that I'm driving and I want blinkers on stalks and parking sensors - and heated steering wheel - even though someone thinks it's ok to delete.

But you can't expect every company to put in everything that a consumer would want in a car. In 2018 i'm sure there were lots of cars that were $40,000+ that didn't have heated steering wheels. That's why they ended up putting it in 2021.

 

[buckets0fun]

EDIT: I found the giant heated steering wheel thread I was thinking about but its 34 pages long and a lot of it is discussion on if a car has one or not.

Perhaps @Durzel might know if Tesla ever allowed a heated steering wheel retrofit?

Clockspring and wheel.

Like matrix headlights, config needs to be changed on older cars.