Window wipers

[paul-kirchner]

Not that it will replace wipers, but I am a firm believer in Rain-X. Doesn’t work that well at low speeds but at highway speeds, it’s like magic, It’s like the rain isn’t even hitting.

[kerbe2705]

Just as they do on most automobiles, the windshield wipers will rest in the vent trough below the windshield. This was discussed quite some time ago and, I believe, is included in the FAQ.

[stephen-drake]

I know it’s a small thing, but, it’s also an easily overlooked thing in the design process. I sincerely hope that the windshield wipers are not just a quick, slapped on thing, but instead get some time and attention. And some serious testing, preferably in a location outside of California that gets regular, serious rain.

When I sold my tesla, the windshield wipers were in the top 5 of things I didn’t like, and my sentiments are shared by a LOT of tesla owners. The auto wiper setup was a disaster – only working reliably less than half of the time, and also prone to turning on the wipers when they weren’t needed. The “manual” (on-screen) controls worked ok, but were difficult to use while at the same time keeping ones eyes on the road and valiantly trying to not to crash into barely seen vehicles. A dedicated control device (steering wheel stalk?) is preferable to lots of drivers, especially us older folks.

Apologies if this has been posted before – I just placed my pre-order last night, have not read everything yet.

[kerbe2705]

You needn’t worry: With more than 100 engineers working on the vehicle I’m fairly certain that no one is going to forget the need for working wipers. As to the wiper control system, that’s TBD: Right now they’re working on suspension, the drivetrain and interior ergonomics.

I hope you used someone’s referral code and saved yourself $30!

FYI, wipers, window and body seals are usually tested in a spray booth where all sorts of weather situations can be simulated – testers don’t sit around waiting for rainy days… Also, Tesla’s auto-sensing wipers have improved markedly since 2020, as has the voice-control option.

[joshua-rosen]

I’m a Tesla owner also. There are a couple of things that are wrong with the way Tesla controls the wipers, they use the camera’s as the rain detector and the controls are on the screen rather than on a stalk. If the automatic wiper function worked reliably then the control issue wouldn’t be as important but Tesla’s mechanism doesn’t work nearly as well as dedicated rain detectors. I use the voice controls when I want to manually adjust the wipers, it’s safer than reaching for the screen. The right place for all controls that are necessary for driving is on a stalk. Directional indicators, gear shifters and wiper controls should all be on the wheel so that you can control them by touch. If the lights aren’t automatic the controls for them should also be easily controlled by touch without having to look, however there is no excuse for not having automatic lights these days, that technology is very reliable, they should also be auto-dimming. Speaking of lights I’d love for them to implement matrix LED headlamps now that they are legal in the US.

• This reply was modified 11 months, 3 weeks ago by  Joshua Rosen.

[jonah-jorgenson]

Not a small thing if you live in the Seattle WA area.

Nearly everybody in my immediate family drive Teslas of one sort or another. I drive a 2019 Model 3. The wipers took a bit to get use to but now I don’t think about them at all. My fingers go to the point on the screen/wiper menu and on or off they go. I can see how some people would be aggravated about the control. Voice activation seems to be the best alternative.

My father drove cars before controls were on stocks and before stock controls were standardized. I am sure he had the same trouble adjusting to stocks. 😄

There is one stock on the left side of the yoke in the beta rendering. I have no idea what it controls. I really don’t care where the controls are for the wipers or anything else. I am of the generation where we like things on screens.

I do trust the Aptera engineers to pay meticulous attention to wipers as they do to other Aptera subsystems.

[IA-1]

I sincerely hope that Aptera won’t follow Tesla and will provide a regular wiper stalk.

Sometimes you need only one swipe, sometimes more. Sometimes you need one spray, sometimes more. Sometimes you need the speed to be higher, sometimes lower. You might need all of the above in a 2 minute range depending on the amount of rain and road conditions.

The stalk is right at your fingertips and you don’t have to look at it to find, you just perform the needed operation. It’s impossible to do that through the touchscreen. Even though most of the cars have automated wipers that work pretty well, depending on the amount of rain you need to adjust the wipers manually from time to time.

[dirk-wright]

We all know it never rains in California, but in much of the rest of the country, it does. What about windshield wipers? Anyone know about that?

[eric-caldwell]

Living in a temperate rainforest, this is naturally a concern for me as well. I don’t know the status of whether the vehicle has wipers, but that would be a major issue if the wipers weren’t there.

[993cc]

The production version will have a wiper, although I don’t think any of the Alphas, Betas, or the one Gamma built so far have them.

[humphrey]

Given the aerodynamics, a liberal dose of Rainex ought to do the trick!

[john-ross]

Where will they be on Aptera? On my 2003 Ford Taurus they are very conveniently located on the turn signal stalk.

[993cc]

They will be on the screen, which is horrible. No doubt they will be to some degree “automatic” and that will work well enough in southern California.

Also of some concern to me is that the single wiper appears to only clear about 3/5ths of the windscreen. That leaves a lot of your vision obscured if you get hit by a blanket of slush from a passing Semi.

[john-ross]

Thanks Bob for you rapid reply. Bad News! It is very scary indeed to think of having to fumble on the screen in order to quickly access controls that are very frequently needed here in northwest Washington state! I believe that my current cars are typical in having wiper speed and delay, washer momentary, and high beam lights flash and steady all on the turn signal stalk. This is a completely ergonomic arrangement which honors safety considerations.

[destroyor86gmail-com]

Probably won’t happen but I still would like to see wiper control on the turn signal stalk for safety. Anytime a vehicle near you hit a large water puddle your windshield will get hit by a blanket of water completely blocking vision until you hit that wiper control. I personally experienced a few time last Winter and I can’t imagine myself hitting the wiper control on touchscreen with the same ease and speed.

If physical wiper control isn’t available the least Aptera could do would be publishing a detailed how to guide to mod in physical buttons similar to this:

https://jalopnik.com/tesla-touchscreens-could-get-physical-buttons-thanks-to-1850032257https://jalopnik.com/tesla-touchscreens-could-get-physical-buttons-thanks-to-1850032257

[curtis-cibinel]

From the interview they will be open with canbus so hopefully a raspberry pi and related canbus hat could make physical buttons with gpio.

[Mike-Mars]

I’d like the option to change the behaviour of the volume up/down on the yoke to be for the wipers instead (faster/slower/stopped).

Having said that, I seem to recall someone saying recently that there were wiper controls on the stalk, which would be logical.

• This reply was modified 1 month, 2 weeks ago by  Michael Marsden.

[ROMAD]

“I’d like the option to change the behaviour of the volume up/down on the yoke to be for the wiper instead (faster/slower/stopped).”

There, I fixed it for you. 😉

[Mike-Mars]

Cheers. My own car has the single-wiper design as well, but I still tend to refer to it in the plural for some reason (just habit I guess).

[993cc]

I’m a bit concerned that from the renders it looks like the wiper will only clear about 3/5ths-2/3rds of the windscreen.

[Mike-Mars]

I can’t tell from the renders, but at least on my car, the single wiper is fine. Unwiped area is the extreme upper corner in front of the passenger, has never obscured anything which I’ve needed to see as a driver.

[993cc]

In the renders, the right end of the wiper blade seems to end more than a foot from the right edge of the windscreen. Assuming that from there the wiper arcs upward and to the left, that’s a huge uncovered area.

(click to enlarge)

• This reply was modified 1 month, 2 weeks ago by  Bob Kirchner.

[ROMAD]

I don’t think everything in those renders are exactly to scale with the large overall dimensions probably close to accurate; the small nitnoy item not very much.

[destroyor86gmail-com]

If anything the two volume up/down buttons on the yoke should default to wiper control. It would be great if right after you get your vehicle the touchscreen will have a welcome setup wizard asking you to map the various buttons and control before driving it for the first time.