Tesla Under Fire Over Its Wipers

Tesla has revolutionized the automotive world but is unable to make windshield wipers function properly.

Even Tesla enthusiasts are starting to grind their teeth over this problem that ruins their lives in rainy weather. In a typical modern car, whether gasoline or electric, when the rain arrives, you switch the wipers to automatic mode and stop worrying about it. The more discerning ones, who will recognize themselves, might slightly adjust the speed control dial, but overall it’s simple and basic.

As often, there are three methods. The right one, the wrong one, and the Tesla method. It’s Tesla’s unique approach to automating the wiper function that is at the heart of the problem. While the vast majority of cars are equipped with rain sensors, Tesla’s system uses the vehicle’s cameras to detect rain and automatically adjust the wipers based on the amount detected. This technology is theoretically the best as it allows for the adjustment of wiper speed according to the intensity of precipitation detected, but also based on other factors such as external lighting, wind sweep, or the crossing of another vehicle. However, in reality, it is an overly sensitive system that activates in the absence of rain or is slow to trigger when rain begins. Some users also complain that it does not detect snow…

A sufficient update?

In a normal car, a small press on the wiper stalk can help with a faulty detection, but when the controls are activated from the central screen as is the case in the latest Teslas, it complicates the handling. The problem seems to finally be taken seriously by Tesla, which is about to deploy a critical update targeting the performance of the automatic wipers.

In June 2023, Tesla had already announced an upgrade to its system, Autowiper v4, with little success according to feedback from dissatisfied customers. When you decide to become a pioneer in a technology, you inevitably expose yourself to this type of problem. Tesla is ultimately just a child in the history of the automotive world and continues its hard learning process.

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