Winter Climate Control - "Pre-heating" is incredibly limited

[kmob07]

Hi - starting our first winter here in the northeast with a 2017 Model S 90D. I LOVE this car. It's important that when you hear me whining here that you (and I) remember that!

I sprung for all of the winter features - all-wheel drive, heated front and rear seats, steering wheel, you name it. Yet for some reason I don't seem to be able to figure out how to remotely start anything other than basic venting of air into the cabin. Has anyone figured out how to:

• Remotely start the rear or front defrosters on hi?
• Remotely warm the seats?
• Remotely warm the steering wheel?

Even in my old dinosaur cars, with remote start via app you could kick off all of the warming required to ensure that a dusting of snow/ice would have melted from the windows, your bottom would be toasty warm and you won't need gloves to drive for the first 15 minutes... In the tesla, I seem to be relegated to remotely starting up a luke-warm cabin...

To compound my irritation, I have also found that if I walk out to start things manually, they shut off when I walk away (maybe I need to experiment w/ where to leave the FOB, or whether or not the car is plugged in).

I'm hopeful I'm missing some setting or something in the app? Are there other options besides the official app that would give me more flexibility?

 

[Skipdd]

Hi - starting our first winter here in the northeast with a 2017 Model S 90D. I LOVE this car. It's important that when you hear me whining here that you (and I) remember that!

I sprung for all of the winter features - all-wheel drive, heated front and rear seats, steering wheel, you name it. Yet for some reason I don't seem to be able to figure out how to remotely start anything other than basic venting of air into the cabin. Has anyone figured out how to:

• Remotely start the rear or front defrosters on hi?
• Remotely warm the seats?
• Remotely warm the steering wheel?

Even in my old dinosaur cars, with remote start via app you could kick off all of the warming required to ensure that a dusting of snow/ice would have melted from the windows, your bottom would be toasty warm and you won't need gloves to drive for the first 15 minutes... In the tesla, I seem to be relegated to remotely starting up a luke-warm cabin...

To compound my irritation, I have also found that if I walk out to start things manually, they shut off when I walk away (maybe I need to experiment w/ where to leave the FOB, or whether or not the car is plugged in).

I'm hopeful I'm missing some setting or something in the app? Are there other options besides the official app that would give me more flexibility?

I usually leave my front seats on and that seems to result in them being on when I pre-heat, which, btw, I use daily in the winter. Also, the latest software update added a feature to allow the climate to remain on when exiting the vehicle. I don't think this can be remotely triggered, but it should allow you to engage and then leave the car. To access this feature hit the Auto button and it brings up the climate menu. At the bottom is a toggle to let you leave the climate on after exiting.

 

[daniel]

... gloves to drive for the first 15 minutes...

Do you really need gloves for the first 15 minutes? My Roadster does not have anything remote. I get in the car cold and turn on the heater. After 5 or 10 seconds it's blowing hot. After about a minute the cabin is warming, and within 2 or 3 minutes I have to take off my hat and gloves.

 

[mknox]

I usually leave my front seats on and that seems to result in them being on when I pre-heat, which, btw, I use daily in the winter.

Mine don't. The seat heaters will come back on when I get in the car and hit the brake pedal, but don't come on when I remotely activate.

I agree with the OP. The remote HVAC is kinda primitive. My old '09 Cadillac would turn on the seat heaters if it was below a certain temperature outside, and turn on the seat coolers if it was above a certain point. It would also turn on the front and rear defrosters when it was cold.

 

[lunitiks]

What OP said

 

[kmob07]

Thanks for the responses - it is interesting, there are definitely different experiences here that I can’t explain.

- I’m pretty sure that if I leave the seat on, it doesn’t turn back on when I start remote climate control. Similarly, if I somehow remember to turn on the window defrosters on Hi before i get out of the car, I do not believe they turn back on when I remote start climate control.

I guess it’s possible there is a software version difference here - I’m on the .46 software release.

I do think there’s a pretty easy lever here for Tesla - just give us more control over climate control options in the app!

PS what a great car!

 

[lunitiks]

Remotely starting the seat heaters, steering wheel heaters and window/mirror defrosters have been a request for as long as I can remember.

Could it be technically impossible?

 

[Superendo]

Remotely starting the seat heaters, steering wheel heaters and window/mirror defrosters have been a request for as long as I can remember.

Could it be technically impossible?

If a softwarebutton can switch it on and if it should be possible to do remotely imo.

 

[BerTX]

I believe there is no call to remotely activate the seat heaters in the API. Whether they can't or just haven't put it in the API, I don't have a clue.

 

[jaguar36]

Are you guys just not pre-heating early enough? When I get in the car everything has warmed up plenty from the warm air. The seats are warm, the steering wheel is warm, the ice is melted its great.

Lots of other things I would prefer Tesla to work on than remotely turning on the seat heaters.

 

[wayner]

I totally agree with the OP and I posted on these issues when I got my Model S about three years ago.

Tesla does seem to be thinking about winter issues however as there is a story out that they are working on preheating the battery. See here: Tesla is working on a battery pre-heating feature to maximize efficiency in cold climates

 

[lunitiks]

Of all the things, what I’d appreciate most would be rear window defrosting through app.

Because cabin heating don’t melt ice on that area fast enough IMO.

On second place I’d like steering wheel preheating. Because it’s quite slow to get warm, but provides enormous comfort when heated

 

[wayner]

I wonder if they have changed the steering wheel heating as mine starts to get warm immediately and does not take very long to get warm. My morning drive to the train station is about 4-5 minutes and the wheel is warm or even hot before I arrive. And on longer drives the wheel almost gets too hot, although after a half hour or so the heat seems to turn down, or else I am getting used to it. I have a P85D that was manufactured in December of 2014.

 

[lunitiks]

Sure it’s relative. It’s not «slow» really, but I’d really love if it was faster on those extremely cold days.. or preheating possibility

 

[lunitiks]

Bjørn and Jørgen drops the mic: