I don't have normal color perception (sometimes called color blind) and I can't tell when the seat heater is on or at what level. I seldom turn it on if my wife is not in the car as it is difficult to turn off without being able to see the indicator lights properly. Wondering if anyone else has the problem or found a workaround.
Seat heater indicator
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I've not heard of a form of color blindness where you can't see lit versus unlit. If you can still see luminance/brightness, it's odd that you can't tell whether one light, two lights, three lights, or no lights are lit. Shouldn't matter the color, no?
Mike
Mike
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If the 2019 is the same as the 2017, they are on "auto" by default (not really sure what that means).
If you tap the icon once (one audible "beep") you get full power (3 dots), and each subsequent tap and beep decreases the power by one dot. Maybe go by the beeps you hear when you tap the icon?
If you tap the icon once (one audible "beep") you get full power (3 dots), and each subsequent tap and beep decreases the power by one dot. Maybe go by the beeps you hear when you tap the icon?
If the cabin is cold enough, my 2017 will warm the seat on its own with no user input. Pretty sure that's what the auto is doing.
My 2017 Bolt EV will not activate the seat warmer(s) by itself no matter how low the cabin temp gets. (I wish remote start would "remember" my seat heat setting as well as temp set!)
I think if you put a blue filter in front of the part of the display that shows the dots, they'll appear black when illuminated. But it would interfere with being able to press the button to change the setting...
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Good idea, or maybe a flap of that really thin film of any color. I think I have seen these at a Art store. AC Moore, Michaels?
There is NO audible beep for buttons on the 2017 that I am aware of.
You have to set it up as an AUTO feature in the settings. If yours is not working then something is really wrong.
I like the auto warm the seat with remote start but wish it would totally turn off when I start the car. I hate the 'auto' saying and NOT the red lights showing what it is on.
There is no beeps on my 2019 for seat heaters.
I checked on my 2019 and mine beeps every time you press the seat heater button. I checked my settings and "Audible Touch Feedback" is turned on: maybe that's the difference. Still, it only beeps once each time you press it so unless you keep track in your mind of what setting you are on, you wouldn't know when it is off. First beep is high heat, second is medium, third is low, and fourth is off. It would be ideal if there were two beeps when it goes from low to off but unfortunately it doesn't.
Also, contrary to what I said above, I noticed the dots on the indicators are red which means people who are red/green color blind (the most common color blindness) will not be able to see the dots. I tried the other themes like Sunset Orange to see if the color of the dots would change but I was in the garage and I don't think the theme change shows when the headlights are on. Best solution I can see is to turn on the Audible Touch Feedback and remember where you are. If you prefer full heat for example, press it once and remember that to turn it off from there, you need to tap the button 3 more times (3 beeps). Etc.
Mike
Also, contrary to what I said above, I noticed the dots on the indicators are red which means people who are red/green color blind (the most common color blindness) will not be able to see the dots. I tried the other themes like Sunset Orange to see if the color of the dots would change but I was in the garage and I don't think the theme change shows when the headlights are on. Best solution I can see is to turn on the Audible Touch Feedback and remember where you are. If you prefer full heat for example, press it once and remember that to turn it off from there, you need to tap the button 3 more times (3 beeps). Etc.
Mike
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I have a bit of the same problem. My colour-blindness is not terrible, so I can sort of see when it's lit, but the difference is subtle. And it's not just the heated seat indicator; the same is true for the Heat indicator. It was really thoughtless not to consider those with colour vision deficiencies when designing this feedback.
I like that idea and it is certainly worth a try. I ordered 9 Pieces Gel Filter Transparent Color Film that will arrive tomorrow and I'll see if it works.
Thanks.
I think that might work. One of those should be able to shift the color a bit so it isn't primary red. Let us know how it works!
Mike
This is a very interesting conversation for our family. Both of my sons are "color blind" which was passed from my wife who's dad also has it. I am not and as a result do not have a good sense of what their world looks like. From the challenges they have faced navigating through the world of color, I can see how a red heat seater light indicator would be an issue. When our boys were growing up, my wife had to get them alarm clocks with blue numbers so they could see the numbers since red was indistinguishable from the black background. This is a good example where having the ability to change the color of lit switches on cars would be a big plus for the approximate 1 in 12 males and 1 in 200 females (per the National Institute of Health) that have red-green color deficiency. GM, are you listening?
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If you put blue filter material over the black button, it will make the red lights invisible both when off and when lit.
The seat heater button does make a beep on our 2019 Bolt.
I tried several plastic sheets of different colors. The red sheet hides the 3 lights when they are off and I see a black dot for each level of seat heat. A bit hokey looking, especially when the car is off but it works for me. I'll remove it in the summer when the heater isn't necessary.
I tried several plastic sheets of different colors. The red sheet hides the 3 lights when they are off and I see a black dot for each level of seat heat. A bit hokey looking, especially when the car is off but it works for me. I'll remove it in the summer when the heater isn't necessary.
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This is why OTA updates would be great for GM. In Tesla if you had enough people with the same issue Elon would be contacted and make a fix.
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^ GM is still old-school.... the car will be the way it was when you bought it and unfortunately, they are turning away money!
Elon does give you some new features for free from time to time, but offers other OTA upgrades like quicker charging, quicker acceleration, etc.. for $$$$ bucks. GM could do the same thing if they put some effort in to it, although that may not be possible for the Bolt at this late date, but they should certainly consider meaningful OTA capability for future GM vehicles to bring in additional $$$$.
Elon does give you some new features for free from time to time, but offers other OTA upgrades like quicker charging, quicker acceleration, etc.. for $$$$ bucks. GM could do the same thing if they put some effort in to it, although that may not be possible for the Bolt at this late date, but they should certainly consider meaningful OTA capability for future GM vehicles to bring in additional $$$$.
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I (certifiably) share the color blindness problem of the original poster, and CANNOT see the red dots, either! Almost cost me a chance to serve in the military...missed 28 of 32 panels. I will investigate the audible beeps feature and, if available, invoke it on both of our 2019 Bolts. Thanks for the discussion comments.
I suffer from a very mild Red/Green color vision deficiency. It sometimes causes me problems when go to renew my aviation medical, but fortunately, I can pass some tests, and as long as I can pass one, they'll accept it. I was having trouble seeing the red seat heat lights in my wife's Bolt. I have noticed that the angle at which I'm viewing it seems to make a difference, as does the ambient lighting. The biggest difference was just turning up the panel brightness.
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