Tesla has confirmed it will soon introduce a paid software upgrade that will enable the heated steering wheel for Standard Range Plus (SR+) Model 3 owners.
News of the upgrade was included in an email sent today to Service Centers in Europe, a copy of which was obtained by Drive Tesla. According to the email, Model 3’s built after the following dates include the heated steering wheel:
- Fremont – Model 3’s built after March 31, 2021
- Giga Shanghai – Model 3’s built after January 1, 2021
The email stated SR+ Model 3 owners with the appropriate hardware will be able to turn on this feature with a paid software update that should appear “in the coming weeks.”
There was no price mentioned, but Tesla charges $400 CAD ($300 USD) to unlock the rear seat heaters, so we expect the price should be similar.
Like other production changes Tesla has implemented in the past, these dates should be taken as a guideline. The email noted there could still be a mix of cars after these dates not equipped with the heated steering wheel.
The heated steering wheel is already included as standard equipment in the Long Range (LR) and Performance Model 3, as noted by changes on Tesla’s website earlier this week. The email stated these cars require software version 2020.48 or later to access the feature on the display.
Related: More software-enabled upgrades could be coming soon to the SR+ Tesla Model 3
It should be noted this email applied only to the EMEA region (Europe, the Middle East and Africa), but we assume the same dates to apply for other markets, like North America.
UPDATE April 28 2021: These changes also apply to North America. A Tesla Advisor relayed the same information to a customer in Toronto earlier today (via Abhinav S.).
