When Tesla released the Model Y back in March, one new feature they didn’t advertise was a heated charge port.
The feature was only known about thanks to popular YouTuber JerryRigEverything who was invited by Tesla in February to head to Alaska and test out the electric SUV in some cold weather conditions.
Since the Model Y was released in the spring and not in the dead of winter, we haven’t seen any tests of the new charge port heater hit the internet.
As it turns out, the feature wasn’t activated, but it has been in the latest 2020.40.0.4 software update.
Thanks to Tesla hacker @greentheonly, we now also know the heated charge port was quietly added to the Model 3 as well.
So with 2020.40 now out we can see that one of the new chargeports reported earlier was Model 3/Y chargeport with inlet heating. and now this heating support was enabled (model S/X upcoming later it seems).
also highway speed sign support (us only), local sped limits (CA, AU, NZ
— green (@greentheonly) October 1, 2020
With cold weather on the horizon, the “Charge Port Inlet Heater” as it is officially known, will be a welcomed addition for Canadian Model 3/Y owners. If you park your car outside, it wouldn’t be uncommon to return to your car and find yourself unable to remove the charger as it had become frozen inside.
According to the release notes, you can use the heater by enabling preconditioning using the mobile app, activating the rear defrost button on the vehicle’s touchscreen, or preconditioning the vehicle using scheduled departure.
What we don’t know is when exactly Model 3 production switched to the heated charge port. It would make sense that the electric sedan got it at least around the same time as the Model Y (March), if not sooner. As green suggests, it could date back to as far as January this year.
We’ll find out the answer to this question when the feature is sent out to the rest of the fleet, as its only in limited Early Access release right now. If your Model 3 release notes show “Charge Port Inlet Heater”, then your car is equipped with the feature.
Here are the full release notes for the 2020.40.0.4 software update. You can read more about Speed Assist coming to Canada here, as well as more information on the Glovebox PIN and Priority Bluetooth Device here.
Speed Assist Improvements
In addition to local roads, Speed Assist now leverages your car’s cameras to detect speed limit signs to improve the accuracy of speed limit data for highways. As usual, to adjust Speed Assist settings, tap Controls > Autopilot > Speed Limit.
Speed Assist Improvements (Canada)
Speed Assist now leverages your car’s cameras to detect speed limit signs to improve the accuracy of speed limit data on local roads. Detected speed limit signs will be displayed in the driving visualization and used to set the associated Speed Limit Warning. As usual, to adjust Speed Assist settings, tap Controls > Autopilot > Speed Limit.
Speed Assist now leverages your car’s cameras to detect speed limit signs to improve the accuracy of speed limit data on local roads. As usual, to adjust Speed Assist settings, tap Controls > Autopilot > Speed Limit.
Priority Bluetooth Device
To avoid connecting to the wrong nearby phone, you can now set your priority Bluetooth device. Your car will attempt to connect to the priority device associated with the profile selected before it attempts to connect to other paired phones. To set your priority device, tap the Bluetooth icon on the top of your touchscreen, select your preferred phone and tap Priority Device.
Mobile App – Vent Windows (Model S)
You can now vent all of your windows from the Tesla mobile app.
Note: this feature requires the Tesla mobile app version 3.10.0 or later.
Glovebox PIN
Protect the valuables in your glovebox with a 4-digit PIN. Tap Controls > Safety & Security > Glovebox PIN on the touchscreen to create your PIN.
Charge Port Inlet Heater
Your car can now use the charge port inlet heater to help defrost the inside of the charge port. The charge port inlet heater can be activated in cold ambient temperatures by enabling preconditioning using the mobile app, activating the rear defrost button on the vehicle’s touchscreen, or preconditioning the vehicle using scheduled departure.
