Next Gen Seat Heaters - Worthless

[gizmoboy]

+100. Just wondering how they'll be when I travel to 25º temps one day!

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I agree! Sometimes I take AP off if my hands are cold!

You can just sit on your hands...

 

[mspohr]

You know what's worthless? Having a heated steering wheel on a car with lane-keeping autopilot.

But, seriously I haven't had any issues with the heated seats with my next-gen seats. Maybe because I find the back of the seat and the lower back to be more important.

I should definitely take a thermal image of it though to see what percentage gets heated.

This is my greatest dilemma (first world problems, I know).
The heated steering wheel is absolutely the best feature of the car by far... but! With autopilot, I find that I'm not getting the full benefit since I don't have a death grip on the wheel... what to do?
(I could go full whinging and complain that "a $100K car should have laser hand warmers" or "a $100K car should massage my butt" or "a $100K car should improve my sourpuss disposition even when I'm having a bad day".)

 

[Max*]

You can just sit on your hands...

One at a time, so you hold the wheel with the other

 

[AmpedRealtor]

The absolute WORST heated seats were in my Volkswagen Jetta. Total garbage. They didn't heat evenly and the heated area was much smaller than the actual seat surface. Model S is so much better and I have the regular (1st gen) seats. Perhaps Tesla should assign an engineer to figure out a way to properly heat OP's thighs. I can think of a few.

 

[ddimit]

If you are coming from BMW the Tesla seats are at least 50% weaker and slower to heat up. I would talk to Service though as there may be a disconnected section in the front of the seat cushion?

thats the only thing I miss from my BMW. Damn those seats heated up quick!

 

[ElectricTundra]

The absolute WORST heated seats were in my Volkswagen Jetta. Total garbage. They didn't heat evenly and the heated area was much smaller than the actual seat surface. Model S is so much better and I have the regular (1st gen) seats. Perhaps Tesla should assign an engineer to figure out a way to properly heat OP's thighs. I can think of a few.

Thanks for the offer of suggestions but I think I'll pass. Note that in my post title I specified the Next Gen seats since there is a significant difference in the two.

 

[stevezzzz]

I used to run my Sig S's seat heaters at 2, whereas on the 2 setting the Next Gen seats in the P85D aren't warm enough. That's what the 3 setting is for, I guess. :wink:

 

[msnow]

I wonder if this can be adjusted with a software update or if it's hardware only.

 

[Jaff]

We had a Mini...you could fry an egg on the level III setting...anything above 1 was too high.

I have no problem with the next gen seat heaters...they work just fine for me.

I too had this concern when purchasing this car (delivered 11-30-15). Didn't see much mentioned about the heated seats. Coming from an Infiniti G35 Coupe 2003 model, the heated seats on that car was worthless. My MINI Cooper S Convertible 2006 model low setting was a lot warmer than the high setting on the G35. So I've had less than a day on the car but I did try out the heated seats in a robe (LOL) in the garage with the level 3 setting and it is better than the G35 but I would assume a lot of cars are better than that. It is getting a bit chillier here in NoCal and we're spoiled with good weather and no rain.

Now let me go back and cry about the 1.5" scratch that was on the car upon delivery. I don't see how stuff like this gets by the detailers or whomever they use to inspect the vehicle before delivery. They're planning on trying touchup paint before attempting to repaint.

 

[S'toon]

This is my greatest dilemma (first world problems, I know).
The heated steering wheel is absolutely the best feature of the car by far... but! With autopilot, I find that I'm not getting the full benefit since I don't have a death grip on the wheel... what to do?
(I could go full whinging and complain that "a $100K car should have laser hand warmers" or "a $100K car should massage my butt" or "a $100K car should improve my sourpuss disposition even when I'm having a bad day".)

I note you live in CA. Up here in the great white north the roads get covered in snow and ice, and therefore there are no clear lane markings. No clear lane markings means no AP. No AP means driving yourself, which means for non-Californians heated steering wheel is a good thing.

 

[stevezzzz]

I note you live in CA. Up here in the great white north the roads get covered in snow and ice, and therefore there are no clear lane markings. No clear lane markings means no AP. No AP means driving yourself, which means for non-Californians heated steering wheel is a good thing.

Very good point, S'toon. The cruise control throws up its hands if the camera gets fogged over, or if the radar gets packed in with snow. And the AP is even finickier.

 

[InternetDude]

I do not have next gen seats but I do have the Sub Zero package. I made a short video demonstrating where exactly the heat is and how good it is. Hint: the heated steering wheel rocks.

I imagine the next gen seat heaters are the same.

Tesla Model S Heated Seats Sub-Zero Package [Infrared] - YouTube

 

[Jool]

Finally gave the seat heaters a good workout this past weekend - it was around 24 degrees at my girlfriend's place! They did a good job of keeping me warm, which made up for the relatively poor cabin heater performance

 

[ElectricTundra]

I do not have next gen seats but I do have the Sub Zero package. I made a short video demonstrating where exactly the heat is and how good it is. Hint: the heated steering wheel rocks.

Great video. Is there someone near you with Next Gen that would allow you to do a comparison? The seat panels on the Next Gen are different. Basically thirds so I'm guessing that they heat the back two thirds and not the front third so similar to yours but a bit less heated area in the front. Unless they are malfunctioning these are definitely the worst heated seats I've had in 15 or 20 years and the first time I've actually chosen not to use them.

 

[JenniferQ]

The steering wheel does indeed rock the heat!

I do not have next gen seats but I do have the Sub Zero package. I made a short video demonstrating where exactly the heat is and how good it is. Hint: the heated steering wheel rocks.

I imagine the next gen seat heaters are the same.

Tesla Model S Heated Seats Sub-Zero Package [Infrared] - YouTube

 

[InternetDude]

Great video. Is there someone near you with Next Gen that would allow you to do a comparison?

Thanks. LOL, no, I live in Saskatchewan, there's only something like 10 MS owners in the province from what I've heard. The other two owners I know have older cars (pre-NextGen seats).

 

[Caligula]

I'm still trying to figure out what this "snow" stuff is that you people are talking about. I take it, it's like the rain I see here once or twice a year?

 

[AWDtsla]

The worst heated seats I've ever seen were in a Nissan Maxima. They put the heating element in the middle, so that anytime it was turned on it made the passenger feel like he/she had just wet themselves.

But on a car with an average selling price of over 100k it should not range from "sucks" to "adequate"

 

[EarlyAdopter]

Here's an IR photo of the Next Gen driver seat in my car after a 20 minute drive home on setting 3. Car temp was 43F when I got in, cabin temp set to 74F.

The number in the top left, 97.2F is the hottest detected temperature in the center box. The temperature color scale on the right shows roughly the range of temperatures detected in the overall frame.

 

[Denarius]

I used to run my Sig S's seat heaters at 2, whereas on the 2 setting the Next Gen seats in the P85D aren't warm enough. That's what the 3 setting is for, I guess. :wink:

Same here, with the old seats, 3 was too hot. With the next gen seats, I leave it on 3 all the time.