Heated steering wheel button
Switches the heating in the steering-wheel rim on or off and sets its level.
What pressing it does
Hyundai's Tucson: press to warm the wheel (indicator on); presses cycle OFF → HIGH → LOW, and HIGH drops to LOW by itself after 30 minutes. SEAT's Ateca, with the engine running: a short press switches on at the maximum level and further presses step down; a long press (over a second) switches it straight off, and another long press brings back the last level.
Check your car's manual: makes and models differ in what a button does, which positions a switch has and whether it works with the engine off, and your owner's manual is the authority for your car.
- What it looks like
- A steering wheel with wavy heat lines above it
- Also labelled
- Steering wheel heater; Steering wheel heating
- Standard
- None — a maker's symbol, described here from 2 makers' manuals: Hyundai, SEAT
What to check in your car's manual
Where the button is (dashboard or steering-wheel spoke), how many levels there are, and whether it switches off by itself.
Where makes differ
Hyundai's has two levels with an automatic step-down; SEAT's button is on the multifunction steering wheel and has several levels, shows the level in the instrument display, and switches off when the ignition is turned off or power use is too high. Hyundai can also switch it on automatically from the climate settings.
No regulation defines it
Neither the UN R121 table nor FMVSS 101 Tables 1 and 2 lists a heated-steering-wheel control, so its symbol is the maker's.
Good to know
- Hyundai says not to fit a steering-wheel cover, which can damage the heating.
Other buttons under “Seats, mirrors”
Sources
No regulation defines this control, so it is described from 2 carmakers' own owner's manuals, each read on the date shown.
- Hyundai 2025 Tucson (general market, English web manual): Heated steering wheel — OFF-HIGH-LOW; HIGH to LOW after 30 minutes; automatic control linked to climate settings; no covers. checked 2026-09-25
- SEAT Ateca owner's manual, UK English, edition 06.21 (model year 2022), PDF: Steering wheel heating, p. 153 — Engine running; short press maximum then step down; long press off or last level; automatic off conditions. checked 2026-09-25
Written in our own words; the manuals cover their own models only.