How to Defrost a Tesla: Defrost Button, Heated Mirrors and Defrost Charge Port

January 29, 2024

By Not a Tesla App Staff

You can find the defrost button in the climate menu

Not a Tesla App

Like most vehicles, dealing with snow and ice on your Tesla can be challenging, especially during the colder months. Here are some essential winter tips and techniques to defrost your car and ensure your vehicle is ready for a safe drive.

Defrost From The Tesla App

One of the best parts of owning an EV is preheating the cabin before you get in

Not a Tesla App

Before you even get to your vehicle, it's a great idea to preheat the cabin and turn on the defroster. Your Tesla's cabin will warm up extremely quickly thanks to a dedicated heater. Unlike internal combustion vehicles, the engine doesn't need to warm up before the vehicle starts producing heat. Teslas will start warming up immediately and it often only takes a few minutes to warm up the cabin to a comfortable temperature.

To start the climate system from the Tesla app, just tap the Fan icon directly underneath the vehicle. Those icons can be customized as well (see more below). Alternatively, you can scroll down to the Climate section and activate the climate system from there.

To start defrosting your vehicle, you can also add the Defrost icon to the quick actions icons underneath the vehicle model, or you can go into the Climate section.

Simply slide up the panel at the bottom of the screen to reveal additional options, which include Defrost Car, Bioweapon Defense Mode (if equipped), Camp Mode, and Dog Mode.

Tesla Defrost Button

Finding the defrost buttons in the vehicle is a little less obvious, and an area that Tesla can improve. However, it's crucial to use them if snow is building up on your windshield while driving.

To activate the front windshield defroster tap on the climate temperature at the bottom of the screen, then tap on the curved "Defrost" icon twice. The icon is placed to the right of the 'Auto' button on the climate screen.

Tapping the button once will activate the 'Defog' function and turn the icon blue. You'll want to tap it again so that it turns red and the vehicle starts aiming heat toward the windshield.

To start the rear defroster, tap on the rectangular defrost icon next to the AC icon. Unlike the front defroster, the rear defroster only has a heat option.

Differences Between Defrost Button In the App and the Car

The defrost button in the app works slightly differently than the button in the vehicle. When activating the defrost option in the app, the vehicle will turn on the front and rear defrosters, as well as set the cabin temperature to the max, whereas in the vehicle, the front defrost button will only turn on the front defroster.

There is currently no way to turn on the front defogger from the app, but you can manually activate the climate system with a lower temperature to help defog the vehicle.

Turn On Heated Mirrors

All Tesla models include heated mirrors, but there isn't a separate button to activate them. Instead, to turn on your heated mirrors, you'll want to activate the rear defroster, which will automatically activate both the rear defrost and your heated mirrors.

Defrost Charge Port

The charge port heater is also activated when you turn on the rear defrost button in the vehicle or when you activate defrost from the Tesla app.

Customize Vehicle's App Icons

Tap and hold any icon to customize the bottom row of apps

Not a Tesla App

For quicker access to the vehicle's defrost buttons, you can add them to the row of icons at the bottom of the screen.

To customize the apps that appear along the bottom, simply tap and hold one of the icons until the 'All Apps' menu shows up with all available apps.

You can then drag the defrost button or any others to the bottom bar. Tap 'Done' above the apps menu to exit the customization mode.

Customize Tesla App Quick Actions

You can add a fifth favorite icon to the Tesla app

Not a Tesla App

Similar to adding the Defrost icon to your vehicle's bottom bar, you can tap and hold any of the icons underneath your vehicle's 3D model to customize which options you want to have quick access to.

After tapping and holding any of the icons, you'll be presented with a table of available options. You can then drag any items to the quick access area.

Although Tesla defaults to only showing four favorite actions, you can squeeze in a fifth icon. Just follow our steps in 'How to Add a Fifth App Icon.'

Clearing Snow & Ice

If you preheated your vehicle, snow should be fairly easy to remove from the top of your vehicle. Thanks to the glass roof in most Teslas, the vehicle may have melted most of the snow off the top of the vehicle for you.

Use a soft brush or snow scraper to gently remove any remaining snow from the windshield, rear window, side mirrors, and lights. Avoid using hot water, as it can crack your windows.

Understanding how to defrost your Tesla and customize its settings ensures a safe and comfortable drive during some of the most crucial drives. Being able to remotely defrost or warm up your vehicle, even if it's in an enclosed area is easily one of the best parts of owning an EV. Take advantage of it and stay warm!

Tesla Increases Price of Model S; Starts Offering Free Lifetime Supercharging

December 14, 2024

By Karan Singh

Not a Tesla App

For the first time in quite a while, Tesla has increased the price of one of its vehicle offerings. The Model S Long Range and the Model S Plaid have both received a hefty price increase. However, not all is bad - as Tesla also added a new benefit for buyers.

Price Increase

The price increase for the Model S is $5,000 - currently only in the United States. This price increase will likely impact other markets, including Canada, in the coming days.

The Model S Long Range now starts at $79,990, while the Model S Plaid now starts at $94,990. The Model S and Model X now have the same starting price. Interestingly, that’s also the same pricing point for the Cybertruck AWD and Cyberbeast Trimotor non-Foundation Series.

The vehicle configuration does not appear to have changed, so the new pricing is simply an increase rather than the addition or removal of features. Tesla previously cut the price of the Model S and Model X by 15% in 2023, so this could simply be an adjustment to ensure that the vehicle pricing stays in line with inflation and other factors.

Free Lifetime Supercharging

For those on the fence about ordering a Model S, Tesla has brought back Free Lifetime Supercharging when you order a new Model S on or after December 13, 2024. As always, Free Lifetime Supercharging is restricted to the buyer’s Tesla account and to that specific vehicle. It cannot be transferred to another vehicle or another owner after ownership transfer. It’s worth noting, that it also doesn’t exclude the owner from receiving Supercharger idle fees or congestion fees. There is currently no end date for this promotion.

There are currently no changes to the Model X, neither a price increase nor the addition of Lifetime Superchargering. However, when Tesla makes changes to one of their premium vehicles, it usually affects the other one as well. So be on the lookout for potential changes to the Model X offering in the coming days.

We’ve seen Tesla value Lifetime Supercharging at $5,000, so this falls in line with the price increase we’re seeing. It’s possible that Tesla will begin to bring back Lifetime Supercharging as a perk for buying into their more premium Model S and Model X cars, or this could be another temporary promotion to get buyers who are on the fence to go ahead and make their purchase while this promotion lasts.

Tesla’s Optimus Robot Learns to Walk Without Vision [VIDEO]

December 13, 2024

By Karan Singh

Optimus Falls - but catches itself!

Not a Tesla App

Tesla recently showed off a demo of Optimus, its humanoid robot, walking around in moderately challenging terrain—not on a flat surface but on dirt and slopes. These things can be difficult for a humanoid robot, especially during the training cycle.

Daily walks help clear your mind pic.twitter.com/dUsW58trS6
— Tesla Optimus (@Tesla_Optimus) December 9, 2024

A Look Behind the Curtain

Most interestingly, Milan Kovac, VP of Engineering for Optimus, clarified what it takes to get Optimus to this stage. Let’s break down what he said.

Optimus is Blind

Optimus is getting seriously good at walking now - it can keep its balance over uneven ground - even while walking blind. Tesla is currently using just the sensors, all powered by a neural net running on the embedded computer.

Essentially, Tesla is building Optimus from the ground up, relying on as much additional data as possible while it trains vision. This is similar to how they train FSD on vehicles, using LiDAR rigs to validate the vision system’s accuracy. While Optimus doesn’t have LiDAR, it relies on all those other sensors on board, many of which will likely become simplified as vision takes over as the primary sensor.

Today, Optimus is walking blind, but it’s able to react almost instantly to changes in the terrain underneath it, even if it falls or slips.

What’s Next?

Next up, Tesla AI will be adding vision to Optimus - helping complete the neural net. Remember, Optimus runs on the same overall AI stack as FSD - in fact, Optimus uses an FSD computer and an offshoot of the FSD stack for vision-based tasks.

Milan mentions they’re planning on adding vision to help the robot plan ahead and improve its walking gait. While the zombie shuffle is iconic and a little bit amusing, getting humanoid robots to walk like humans is actually difficult.

There’s plenty more, too - including better responsiveness to velocity and direction commands and learning to fall and stand back up. Falling while protecting yourself to minimize damage is something natural to humans - but not exactly natural to something like a robot. Training it to do so is essential in keeping the robot, the environment around it, and the people it is interacting with safe.

We’re excited to see what’s coming with Optimus next because it is already getting started in some fashion in Tesla’s factories.