Steering Wheel Heater & Seat Heater suck

[knightarmor]

I'm curious as to why you need the steering wheel heater on for more than two minutes?

There two answers to that: some of us don't want to have to keep the whole cabin extra warm just to have warm hands, and some of us also have poor circulation that makes for cold hands (and feet) even in a fairly warm car. It's a shame there isn't a good foot warmer available for cars...

Exactly. If I want to make my 60-mile round-trip commute in cold weather, I can't run the heater too much. I wear a heavy coat, hat, and gloves, and make use of the seat & steering wheel heaters.

Now you can't blame the car for this, if you didn't do enough research to know that you were going to be freezing in cold weather with an electric car that's you're own fault. Interestingly enough this is exactly why the wife and I didn't purchase the Volt, we drove it through snow on a 35 degree day and the heat kept shutting off and the windows kept fogging up. Who in there right mind would willingly purchase a vehicle like this?!?!

All I am saying is don't blame the hardware if you knew the side effects of owning an electric vehicle. Live with it or sell it, it's okay to say it's inadequate, but to say it "sucks" just gives the impression of a poor design which personally I don't think it is. It's an early iteration of things to come and as early EV adopters some of us are willing to understand that the engineering is still young and in its infancy. Now not providing illumination on the lock/unlock switch, that really sucks!! :lol:

 

[garsh]

Now you can't blame the car for this, if you didn't do enough research to know that you were going to be freezing in cold weather with an electric car that's you're own fault.

LOL. You're either confusing who wrote what, or you're reading *way* too much into what I said. You had asked:

I'm curious as to why you need the steering wheel heater on for more than two minutes?

I was answering. I'm quite happy with the car. I do wish that the steering wheel heater would stay on longer. There are other issues I have with the car (as I do almost every car), and I often try to fix them myself when possible.

 

[JeremyW]

I'm curious as to the idea of replacing the thermostat. Yes you would have to remove the leather wrap to get to it. Wonder how much it would be to get it put back on.

What about jumping the timer out of the circuit?

It's not a timer, its a thermostat with bad hysteresis. There's a separate 30 minute timer, but that's not the issue (does anyone actually read my posts???).

No, you should not short it lest you overheat and melt the wheel...

 

[knightarmor]

Now you can't blame the car for this, if you didn't do enough research to know that you were going to be freezing in cold weather with an electric car that's you're own fault.

LOL. You're either confusing who wrote what, or you're reading *way* too much into what I said. You had asked:

I'm curious as to why you need the steering wheel heater on for more than two minutes?

I was answering. I'm quite happy with the car. I do wish that the steering wheel heater would stay on longer. There are other issues I have with the car (as I do almost every car), and I often try to fix them myself when possible.

I was replying to the audience as a whole, only because the title of the thread is misleading.

I hope I wasn't sounding offensive as that was not my intention, it's just irritating to see a thread title like this. What are people who are looking into getting an electric car going to think when they come here to read first hand experience? "The heater in an electric car must not work very well so what's the point of owning an electric car??".

I understand the early models had poor heating systems, and I also know how engineering a new product for a consumer market works, that's why I waited until I felt the car met my expectations to buy it. Again, not being offensive or confrontational, those of you who bought into the car early should be extremely well aware that first generation vehicles will never be perfect and will always have defects. I'm sure there are several engineering teams within Nissan who are thinking "Why oh why didn't we consider this would be issue in cold states?" and at the same time "Well, we were hoping the heat wouldn't affect the battery, oh well, guess we gotta find a fix!"

Overall though, Kudos to Nissan for building the Leaf!

 

[Nubo]

...All I am saying is don't blame the hardware if you knew the side effects of owning an electric vehicle. Live with it or sell it, it's okay to say it's inadequate, but to say it "sucks" just gives the impression of a poor design which personally I don't think it is. It's an early iteration of things to come and as early EV adopters some of us are willing to understand that the engineering is still young and in its infancy. Now not providing illumination on the lock/unlock switch, that really sucks!! :lol:

There's nothing about a heated steering wheel that has anything to do with teething pains of BEV technology. It runs on the 12v system. The wheel should stay comfortably warm for as long as you desire. Simple concept that Nissan inexplicably didn't get right. The implementation quite simply, sucks. Even though I'm happy with the car overall.

 

[LeftieBiker]

I understand the early models had poor heating systems, and I also know how engineering a new product for a consumer market works, that's why I waited until I felt the car met my expectations to buy it. Again, not being offensive or confrontational, those of you who bought into the car early should be extremely well aware that first generation vehicles will never be perfect and will always have defects. I'm sure there are several engineering teams within Nissan who are thinking "Why oh why didn't we consider this would be issue in cold states?" and at the same time "Well, we were hoping the heat wouldn't affect the battery, oh well, guess we gotta find a fix!"

It was more than the "early models" that had an inferior heating system: the entry-level Leaf still has it. They should sell the S model with a heat pump in cold states, and charge a little more for it, or let people who want only a little heat or short range order them from out of state. And as noted above, a heated steering wheel isn't cutting-edge technology. Neither is a space-saver spare tire.

 

[lion]

I'm not surprised Nissan is saying that it's working as normal, but the system is absolutely useless in an area which has seen freezing temps already, and I hope we can make enough noise to either come up with a better solution, or at least get Nissan's attention.

If Toyota can get this right in their Prius Plug-in (a car which they don't even like to sell), then why the heck did Nissan have to mess with this system.

 

[LeftieBiker]

OTOH, our Prius base PHEV has no steering wheel heater at all. I prefer the imperfect one in my Leaf to that.

 

[donalduck70]

I'm having the same issue with 13' Leaf SL.

1. Steering wheel gets warm for no more than 10 min and shuts off for 20-30min.
2. Leather seats also cycle off too fast, but not as fast we the sw.

Anyone find a resolution or should we bring it in to Nissan?

Thank you

 

[lion]

I've given up since someone else already posted that Nissan considers this a non-issue. I toggle the Steering wheel switch every few minutes now, and don't even bother with the seats anymore.

 

[Klayfish]

I've given up since someone else already posted that Nissan considers this a non-issue. I toggle the Steering wheel switch every few minutes now, and don't even bother with the seats anymore.

Exactly, I do this. Yes, my Nissan dealer checked it out and said it's functioning properly. Call the Nissan Leaf support team - 877-664-2738 and tell them it's the same problem as case number 12134464. Perhaps if enough people complain, they'll have someone from Nissan corporate look at it instead of relying on the dealer.

 

[lion]

Well here is a strange one.

Today, I used the low heat setting by accident, and guess what, my seat was warm (not as hot I'd like, but much better than cold) the ENTIRE trip. It never shut down! This obviously shows that there is a design flaw with both the steering wheel heater and the seat heater (when selecting the high setting).

I'll give them a call to get this complaint on file, but would love to hear if anyone else is experiencing the same thing.

I have yet to hear from a 2011-2012 owner complaining about the heater as much as 2013 owners, so I'm wondering if the 2013's are screwed up even more.

Anyways, try running the seat in low, and note how long it heats up the seat, and report back please, thanks!

 

[DNAinaGoodWay]

I think it probably is a '13 issue. Both wheel and seats in my '12 work well.

 

[Becky50]

I also have no such heated steering wheel and seat warmer problems in my 2012 LEAF.

 

[lion]

Just talked to Nissan Customer Service, they want me to bring it in to the dealer to get them to look at the heaters. The car is in the shop right now for some battery issues, and need it back ASAP, so I can't get a diagnosis yet, but it sounds like it will be a lost cause. I asked them to look at the other case # posted in here, but no go.

If anyone else with a 2013 can confirm this issue, it would really help, I'd like to start tracking all the cars having this issue.

 

[JohnTomaszewski]

My '13 steering wheel heater does the same thing. Turns on right away, gets nice 'n toasty, but gets cold after a few minutes - never seems to reactivate either. Bummer. The seat heater seems to be okay...

 

[stlouisleaf]

using my heated seats, front and rear, high and low as well as the heated steering wheel. All perform perfectly, very nice. Low is low, and high is sizzling ;-)

 

[TonyAndTina]

'13 SL. The steering wheel heater works great for me. 10 sec in and the wheels is all warmed up. Seat warmers work great, too. The rear seat warmer is a nice touch!

 

[Klayfish]

'13 SL. The steering wheel heater works great for me. 10 sec in and the wheels is all warmed up. Seat warmers work great, too. The rear seat warmer is a nice touch!

Yes, but leave the steering wheel heater on. Does it cycle on/off, or just get hot then shut off and stay off? Mine warms up quickly too, but after a few minutes shuts off and won't come back on.

 

[lion]

'13 SL. The steering wheel heater works great for me. 10 sec in and the wheels is all warmed up. Seat warmers work great, too. The rear seat warmer is a nice touch!

Yes, but leave the steering wheel heater on. Does it cycle on/off, or just get hot then shut off and stay off? Mine warms up quickly too, but after a few minutes shuts off and won't come back on.

I'd like to know this as well, unless something was fixed in newer builds, it shouldn't stay warm.