Seat heater comes on automatically?

First I've heard of seat warmer coming on automatically. I always have to manually turn on...be nice if it was automatic though.

I’ve noticed the seat heater coming on with the heater. I’ve just seen the driver side although I haven’t looked often at the passenger side. Seems to always be one bar, but I don’t usually have the heat set too high (17C usually). I assumed that was how the car works. I have a 2020 Canadian Clarity.

Also noticed the engine will engage for heat somewhere around -15C, although it seems more likely when I use the defrost rather than just the heater. It would be nice, however, if there was an option to force this mode. My Clarity won’t make my commute to work in the winter on just battery so it would be nice to have the engine run minimally just for heat, and then use the excess energy to extend the range. The way things are is some days it uses the battery to drive and heat the car, and then finishes the drive in HV mode, which seems less efficient than using all the charge for propulsion.

The seat heater comes on automatically in Econ mode only. Normal and Sport modes will not turn on the seat heater.

2002 said:

The seat heater comes on automatically in Econ mode only. Normal and Sport modes will not turn on the seat heater.

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Ahh...that explains it then. Good to know.

Thanks for the information. I knew this group would have the answer (Econ mode is always "on" in my car)

"will it come on at a higher level if it is even colder?"

It will go to more bars as it gets colder, also expect the engine to start automatically when temps go below 10 degrees F.

Apparently, this is needed to protect the battery as lithium batteries can be damaged under heavy load at lower temps.

tommyboy said:

I have just noticed that when I start my car in colder weather (below 40F) if I have my heater on, the seat heater comes on at 1 bar. If my wife is in the car both seats come on. I guess I could research it in the owner's manual, but I figure that I will get a much better answer from the group, especially the East Coasters and Canadians who deal with cold weather regularly.
Any comments? and will it come on at a higher level if it is even colder?

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I have never experienced thst.

A point of clarification. The heater is "on" when starting the car. When the temperature is below 40F my seat comes on at one bar. If my wife is in the passenger seat hers comes on at one bar as well. If the cabin heater is not on when starting the car the seat heater is not on, and does not come on unless I turn it on.