Gary Zhou 
Key Points
- 💸 Tesla may introduce a paywall for features like heated seats and heated wipers.
- 🕵️♂️ Hacker Greentheonly discovered potential developments, suggesting a premium charge for these features.
- 🚗 In the past, Tesla offered the ability to activate rear-heated seats for a fee, raising questions about feature inclusion in base models.
- 🌐 Some features listed in software coding may not always make it to the vehicles.
- 🌡️ It’s speculated that the 2024 base models, possibly Model 3 and Model Y, might be affected by this pay-for-feature approach.
- 🔒 Tesla had previously charged for rear-heated seats activation, and users found workarounds, like jailbreaking a Model 3.
Tesla might make customers pay for features like heated seats and heated wipers, according to a hacker that dissects the company’s software looking for hints at what could be coming next.
Greentheonly is a well-known hacker who has uncovered a lot of upcoming features that eventually make their way to Tesla’s cars. His latest discovery shows a few new developments, including the potential that front heated seats and heated wipers could be placed behind a paywall, charging a premium for what are usually regular features on luxury cars.
Green posted the discovery on X yesterday:
In the past, Tesla offered owners of the Model 3 Standard Range and Standard Range+ the ability to turn on rear-heated seats for a fee of $300, which could be purchased through the company’s app.
Tesla did this with the introductory levels of the Model 3, perhaps to let those who wanted a super affordable car pick and choose certain features that might have been equipped in the car but not necessarily active. Still, some saw it as a money grab for Tesla, as a car that was priced in the mid-$30,000 range should be automatically equipped with heated seats as an included feature.
Now, it appears Tesla could do this for the 2024 base models in its lineup, which would likely only include those of the Model 3 and Model Y.
It is important to note that some of these features that have been listed in software coding have not always made it to the vehicles. However, something like heated seats and heated wipers being explicitly mentioned in this is very interesting, and it would not be out of the question for Tesla to make owners buy some features when they decide to purchase the base model of an EV.
This is especially true because it already charged owners money to activate rear-heated seats in the past.
However, some people have found their way around the heated seat charge in the past. Earlier this year, researchers from the Technische Universität Berlin jailbroke a Model 3 to do precisely that.
