An update to the Tesla Model Y owner’s manual in China has confirmed the electric SUV has a heated steering wheel, and will soon be getting Bioweapon Defense Mode paired with a new HEPA filter.
The changes were spotted by Tesla hacker @greentheonly, who noted the references to the Bioweapon Defense Mode and HEPA filters only appeared in the Chinese version of the owner’s manual.
Big manual update that I am still sifting through.
What immediately jumped at me is the confirmation of HEPA filter/biohazard mode for model Y and 3.
For whatever strange reason, this is only outlined in the Chinese locale manual, others and old cars have the old page. pic.twitter.com/B1ArfVDZdc— green (@greentheonly) December 27, 2020
Even though green’s tweet above says both the Model 3 and Model Y will be getting these features, he later clarified to say it was only the Model Y.
Here’s how Tesla describes the filters and feature on their website.
Inspired by the air filtration systems used in hospitals, clean rooms, and the space industry, we developed a HEPA filtration system capable of stripping the outside air of pollen, bacteria, and pollution before they enter the cabin and systematically scrubbing the air inside the cabin to eliminate any trace of these particles.
This isn’t the first time we have heard the Model Y will be getting these two upgrades. In October green found the first reference in the source code of a software update. That update also included a reference to air suspension possibly coming to the Model 3 and Model Y.
While green didn’t mention the heated steering wheel in his tweet, point 2 in the included images also confirms the Model Y either already has, or will soon get a heated steering wheel.
It was rumoured this feature would be unlocked in the holiday software update released last week, but it was unfortunately not included. It may still come soon though as CEO Elon Musk confirmed the update had to be split into two releases due to several bugs that could not be fixed in time.
