Tesla has started deploying their latest software update, 2021.44.30.6 to internal employee cars today.
The first download was spotted by update tracker Teslascope on a Model S Plaid in Florida this morning.
We noticed a new Tesla software update 2021.44.30.6 on a Model S Plaid (2021) in Florida, United States. View the rollout of this update here: https://t.co/916uHm3JsC
— Teslascope (@teslascope) January 12, 2022
Although the official release notes are not yet available, Drive Tesla has been told by a source that it contains fixes for the recent heat pump failures in extreme cold temperatures.
UPDATE 1:04pm PST: Tesla has started sending this update to customer cars. As we note below, the company has a specific list of VINs for cars in colder climates that will be prioritized for this release.
https://twitter.com/3Y6IX/status/1481371587244875782
We have previously reported on the issue, where heat pumps have been failing and producing no heat in temperatures as low as -40°C.
Tesla has taken the issue very seriously, shipping parts from affected cars across the country to engineers in California to try and determine the cause of the failures, which they now believe can be fixed with a software update.
According to our source, Tesla has classified the fixes as critical, and after being tested on employee cars will be prioritized for vehicles in colder climates.
If all goes well with testing, the public release of 2021.44.30.6 should happen in the next day or two.
For those enrolled in FSD Beta in colder climates, these fixes will arrive with FSD Beta V10.9, which is also expected to roll out this weekend.
This software fix may however be just a temporary one. In a lengthy Twitter thread yesterday, Trevor Page from Tesla Owners Online relayed some information from the Saskatchewan Tesla Owners Club received from a technician at Tesla Saskatoon.
According to the information, one of the observed causes is the front air intake flap freezing in the open position. This allows extremely cold air to enter the system, preventing the heat pump from operating normally.
The cold air passes a sensor, which tells the climate system it is failing, and the compressor stops.
This software update should tell the system to keep working despite those error messages, until Tesla can figure out a way to prevent this issue from occurring in the first place.
You can read the full Twitter thread below.
FYI: information regarding the heat pump issues some are facing in extreme cold. From Saskatchewan Tesla Owners club: @elonmusk
— TREV PAGE (@Model3Owners) January 12, 2022
