Tesla CEO Elon Musk has confirmed the giant windshield wiper recently spotted on the new Cybertruck will not make it to production. Musk has put out 2 alternative wiper ideas.
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In recent days, Tesla has been hyping up the Cybertruck in a big way. First, the EV maker released Cybertruck printed socks closely followed by Cybertruck inspired whistle. Then, Tesla upped the ante with a Cybertruck inspired Cyberquad for kids.
However, Cybertruck’s hype did not end there. After Tesla removed all variants of the Cybertruck from the company’s online configurator, Elon Musk confirmed there will be a new Cybertruck variant with 4 motors and tank turn capability. New rumors suggest the quad-motor Cybertruck will have a 0 to 60mph time in less than 1.99 seconds.
Increasing the anticipation, Elon speaking at the CEO summit hosted by Wall Street Journal has also said he will do a more in-depth Cybertruck update next month at Tesla’s upcoming Q4 earnings call.
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There have also been yet unverified rumors claiming Tesla has canceled the rear-wheel-drive Cybertruck and replaced the entry variant with a dual motor version.
And to put the icing on the cake, today we got our first look at the updated Cybertruck driving around the Fremont track. In the drone footage, we were able to spot several changes including; a charge port on the rear wheel well, side view mirrors, a gate between the vehicle’s cabin and bed, and many more minor tweaks.
However, most noticeable of the changes on the updated Cybertruck was a giant windshield wiper that spans the full length of the truck’s windshield. Some in the Tesla community were disappointed to see such an eyesore on the otherwise perfect truck.
Musk also seems to agree the giant windshield wiper looks out of place on the Cybertruck and confirmed late last night, the production vehicle will not ship with the giant wiper.
Musk’s confirmation has been a relief for most fans of the Cybertruck. However, this still leaves the question of what kind of windshield the futuristic truck will have.
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The obvious place to put the windshield wiper in any vehicle is in the space between the vehicle’s hood and windshield, however, the Cybertruck’s design does not leave any space between the two parts of the truck. This means Tesla needs to come up with novel windshield wiper ideas or positioning to maintain the Cybertruck’s futuristic aesthetics.
Musk seems to agree with this sentiment writing on Twitter “the wiper is what troubles me most. No easy solution.” To solve this issue Musk has provided a couple of solutions. First Musk says a “deployable wiper that stows in the front trunk would be ideal, but complex.
It’s not exactly clear how this mechanism will work, from Musk’s tweet, this approach looks like Tesla will need to create a cut-out on the Cybertruck’s front trunk and it will likely require a complex series of hinges and motors.
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The second idea in the running is to use lasers in place of windshield wipers. At first glance, this idea seems too Sci-Fi, however, Tesla already has a patent for such an instrument. In the patent, Tesla goes into a bit more detail explaining the laser windshield wiper writing…
“A cleaning system for a vehicle includes a beam optics assembly that emits a laser beam to irradiate a region on a glass article of the vehicle, debris detection circuitry that detects debris accumulated over the region, and control circuitry. The control circuitry calibrates a set of parameters associated with the laser beam emitted from the beam optics assembly based on detection of the debris accumulated over the region on the glass article, controls an exposure level of the laser beam on the debris accumulated based on calibration of the set of parameters associated with the laser beam, wherein the exposure level is controlled based on pulsing the laser beam at a calibrated rate that limits penetration of the laser beam to a depth that is less than a thickness of the glass article and removes the debris accumulated over the region on the glass article using the laser beam.”
Tesla received a patent for the laser windshield wiper idea only a couple of months ago, as a result, there hasn’t been much discussion regarding the implementation. However, last night Musk has hinted at the laser wiper idea.
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Responding to a Twitter user who wrote saying “am I the only one disappointed at having a big wiper blade instead of lasers? Where are our lasers @elonmusk? We need lasers!”. Musk simply responded saying “lasers can do anything”.
Admittedly, not the most straightforward confirmation by the Tesla CEO. However, with the updated Cybertruck reveal just a month away, Musk will undoubtedly want to keep some details close to the chest.
As of now, it’s not yet clear what type of windshield wiper implementation the EV maker will deploy on the Cybertruck. Until Tesla decides to give us a more comprehensive Cybertruck update we will only have Musk’s cryptic tweets to go by.
However, the wait shouldn’t be much longer as Tesla’s Q4 earnings call is fast approaching. We will be sure to keep you updated if we get further details. Make sure to visit our site torquenews.com/Tesla regularly for the latest information.
So what do you think? Will you be comfortable having lasers as a windshield wiper on your vehicle? Also, what do you think of putting the wiper in the front trunk? Let me know your thoughts down in the comments below.
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Image Source: Image: Screenshot from Chile Al100 Youtube video.
Tinsae Aregay has been following Tesla and The evolution of the EV space on a daily basis for several years. He covers everything about Tesla from the cars to Elon Musk, the energy business, and autonomy. Follow Tinsae on Twitter at @TinsaeAregay for daily Tesla news.
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