We all dread those winter mornings when it’s so cold that seating in your freezing car seat is unpleasant. We’ve all been there. Most cars have interior climate control systems. And just like any system, climate control consumes a significant amount of power.
But, what if you could direct the heat to yourself rather than your surroundings? Well, that’s what Tesla has done to its range of vehicles.
So if you’re wondering whether Tesla cars have heated seats, here’s the answer.
Tesla cars have both front and rear heated seats to alleviate the stress you’ll experience on cold days. You can pair heated seats with a heated steering wheel for better comfort. Additionally, the company has a massage module that uses the air bladder in your seat to reduce back discomfort.
Tesla designed their seats to maximize the occupants’ comfort and performance. For more information about the many features that Tesla’s seats offer, keep reading!
How to Adjust Tesla Seat Heaters’ Temperature
It’s essential to adjust your cabin temperatures before driving to achieve a better range and performance in your car. Tesla recommends warming up some 30-45 minutes before your departure.
However, the warming time can vary depending on the surrounding temperatures. If the weather is warmer, expect your car to preheat faster than when it’s freezing on the outside.
You don’t need a thermometer or manually check if your car is warm enough to get in. The good thing is that the mobile app will notify you once your vehicle has reached the desired preconditioning temperature.
Here’s how you can warm up your Tesla seats.
Using Tesla’s Touch Screen
On Tesla’s instrument panel, there’s an option to warm up your car’s front seats. To do so, touch the front seat’s icon and select between the heating settings 1 (lowest), 2 (mid), and 3 (highest).
You’ll know that your seat is heating up when the seat icon showing twisting lines turns red. Alternatively, you can opt for the Auto option, which warms the front seats corresponding to the cabin temperature.
Using Tesla Mobile App
Manually-adjusted seat heaters can soon be a thing of the past, with Tesla introducing automatic seat heating in their recent software update. The feature adjusts the temperature of the seats corresponding to the cabin temperature.
When it’s cold, the seat heater sets to the max and gradually decreases to a point when the seat temperature matches the desired temperature. At this point, the seat heater will automatically turn off.
If you prefer the manual set-up, you can toggle between the manual and automatic set-up with your phone app.
Here’s How You Can Warm Up Your Cabin and Batteries
Using Tesla’s Default Auto Climate Control
By default, the climate control is set to auto to maintain warmer interiors within the car.
If you select the Auto option, the system adjusts the air conditioning, heating, fan speed, and air distribution to keep you warm.
Using Tesla’s Touch Screen
There’s an available Schedule option on your climate control or battery charging screens. Press it and set a time when you want your vehicle to warm up before you can get in to drive.
Preheating your car, especially as it’s charging, will add some extra miles compared to heating while going.
Using Tesla Mobile App
On your Tesla mobile app, navigate to the Climate option and adjust the temperature to a point it’s sufficient to warm up your car.
Furthermore, the Climate option allows you to select a Defrost Car option. Defrosting melts the snow, frost, and ice that build upon the mirrors, windshield, and windows.
It also warms up the high voltage battery necessary to power up your car.
Benefits of Heated Seats in Your Tesla
It can seem obvious, but heated seats have added advantages crucial for your health. Here are some benefits of heated seats.
It Keeps You Warmer
Most people don’t overdress when driving in winter conditions. Therefore, you’ll find that drivers experience freezing conditions in their cars around the contact points.
These points include the back, thighs, and hands.
And while the climate control system can raise the interior temperatures, it isn’t sufficient to keep your seats heated. Hence the need for better alternatives to keep yourself warm.
Heated Seats Alleviate Chronic Back Pain
Back pain sufferers find heated car seats to be beneficial in lowering the stiffness they experience while driving.
If you can’t sit in one driving position without feeling some form of back discomfort, you should consider heated seats.
Causes of lower and upper back pains include
- Poor posture
- Overuse of muscles and ligaments outside of driving
- Compression fractures
- Improper lifting techniques
- Arthritis
- Fibromyalgia
- Spinal deformity
And since you might be seated for extended periods while driving your Tesla, you should be in your most comfortable position.
Also, you can pull aside every time you feel that the back pain is gradually overwhelming you.
To avoid this, utilize the heated seat feature. Heat relaxes stressed muscles, allows for better blood circulation to your back, and lowers pain signal transmission to your brain. As a result, you’ll experience fewer back pains.
It Saves You Time
If you’re relying on Tesla’s climate control to warm up your car, then be ready to spend more time before you can drive away.
The reason is that seat heaters are more specific and will heat up faster.
Additionally, you won’t lose much power from your car’s batteries. Tesla will heat faster than diesel and gas vehicles as it doesn’t have an engine.
Fossil fuel-powered vehicles warm up their interiors using excess heat generated by the engines. And, as we know, Teslas are fully electric.
Final Thoughts
Heated car seats were invented in 1951 by Robert Ballard while working for General Motors and tried on the mass-produced 1966 Cadillac DeVille.
Nothing much has changed over the years, but Tesla plans on introducing liquid-cooled and -heated seats to lessen battery consumption.
We’ll get to see how good these seat warmers will be, but as of now, their air-cooled and -heated ones are doing pretty well.
If you have an older model, you can visit or contact Tesla to activate the back seat heaters feature as it’s dormant in some models, such as the older versions of the Model 3.
However, it doesn’t come cheap, and you’ll have to pay $300 for the upgrade.
