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Tesla Admits Firmware Issues Behind Heating Flaws, Gives Customer Instructions

If you read our previous article about heating issues Tesla owners are facing in cold-weather regions, you know the complaints started around December 30. In a discussion on a Facebook group, a Tesla owner shared a discussion about that with the company. It reveals the EV maker knew about the situation for quite a while: at least since December 29.
Tesla contacts customer and confirms a firmware issue caused heating problems in vehicles with heat pumps 11 photos
Photo: Mark/Facebook
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Sent on that day, the message reads as follows (the bold is on us):

“Greetings from Tesla. We are currently reviewing your heating concern and have confirmed this is a known firmware concern related to extreme cold climates. A fix is currently being developed by the software engineering team, and there is no ETA on the firmware version fix. Please keep your vehicle connected to WIFI so your Tesla can download the latest version as it becomes available.”

Tesla then asks this owner some questions:

“Can you confirm that your heating operation is intermittent, for example(,) the heat will come on then goes off but will eventually recover and work correctly, usually after parking the vehicle in a warmer area?"

Finally, the company gives that owner some recommendations about how to deal with the car while the issue is not solved.

“In addition, please set your Climate to "auto" (Auto button should be blue in full Auto mode) and only adjust the set temperature to your comfort level as this is the most efficient heating/cooling setting. If these are the symptoms please let us know, as an in-person service visit may not be required. Thank you.”

The owner responds that he had hard reset the car and that the system started working again, warning the company that a fix should be provided soon or “there will be a few deaths soon.” Tesla answers on December 30 that the issue was discovered "recently" and that future firmware updates currently under development should bring “improvements.” The company then adds some more suggestions to deal with the problem.

“Current mitigations are to precondition vehicle 30 min - 60 min prior to departure, use (the) recirculating air mode and use auto mode. Symptoms may still occur when driving in climates -15(º)C and below. If heat does not return please park (the) vehicle in a warmer location and allow (the) vehicle to warm up.”

Tesla then apologizes “for the inconvenience” and states that it closed the appointment this owner required because “an in-person service visit is not required.” This customer does not waste the opportunity to tell Tesla what other owners affected by the problem would probably want to say:

“How about telling people in cold climates about this issue before selling them a Tesla?”

This customer owns a Tesla Model 3 but knows that more Model Y units are involved with the problem, clearly connected to the use of a heat pump, the Super Manifold, and the Octovalve. In short, only Model 3 units that already have this system also have the heating problem.

It is not clear if Tesla warned NHTSA (National Highway Traffic Safety Administration) or Transport Canada about the situation. Since the EV maker does not talk to the press, we have just asked the safety organization and the Canadian ministry if they have received any warnings. We’ll update this article or write a new one depending on what they have to tell us.
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About the author: Gustavo Henrique Ruffo
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Motoring writer since 1998, Gustavo wants to write relevant stories about cars and their shift to a sustainable future.
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