Frozen snow / ice blocked my headlights last night

[mark555055c]

it's not overblown. Recessed lights have a much bigger issue than other vehicles. My model Y would almost never get covered because the lights were part of the aerodynamic profile of the vehicle. Snow would blow over them rather than stop there. But my jeep, and now the cybertruck, have lights that are recessed. the snow does not just blow past those. I have like 7 miles on the highway between work and home. Zero street lights between the exits. when it's snowing, the lights on my jeep would be totally covered well before my off ramp. Model Y would never have a problem. The truck will be similar to the jeep without some solution

We shall see. I suspect most people will brush off the snow or chip away the ice and have no issues in the vast majority of conditions.

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[agordon117]

We shall see. I suspect most people will brush off the snow or chip away the ice and have no issues in the vast majority of conditions.

I would argue that having to stop on an unlit highway to brush snow off so that you can see the road every 5-30 miles is an issue regardless of times when conditions don't require that

 

[mark555055c]

I would argue that having to stop on an unlit highway to brush snow off so that you can see the road every 5-30 miles is an issue regardless of times when conditions don't require that

Yeah hopefully that is not the case, lol. I'll report back in April. ?

 

[mongo]

And then I got problem with FSD disengaging with minor dust with the message: front camera degraded. ?

Have you had the inner surface of the windshield in front of the cameras cleaned?

 

[Cybertruck2024]

it's not overblown. Recessed lights have a much bigger issue than other vehicles. My model Y would almost never get covered because the lights were part of the aerodynamic profile of the vehicle. Snow would blow over them rather than stop there. But my jeep, and now the cybertruck, have lights that are recessed. the snow does not just blow past those. I have like 7 miles on the highway between work and home. Zero street lights between the exits. when it's snowing, the lights on my jeep would be totally covered well before my off ramp. Model Y would never have a problem. The truck will be similar to the jeep without some solution

I live in the snowiest city in America and never had a vehicle that requires me to get out and brush off my lights repeatedly while driving. Most vehicles are shaped in a way that snow will blow around the lights, not accumulate on them.

When not moving and parked snow gets on the lights of any vehicle and needs to be brushed off, that's expected. What isn't expected is snow accumulating on the lights of a moving vehicle. Unless I have just lucked out and bought 10 consecutive unicorns that didn't have a moving snow vehicle accumulation issue, including things like my first car (junker Plymouth Sundance).

 

[mongo]

Would lights located at the base of the windshield been illegal too?

See the Fiat Multipla lights:

Federal limit of headlight height is 54 inches.

 

[agordon117]

I live in the snowiest city in America and never had a vehicle that requires me to get out and brush off my lights repeatedly while driving. Most vehicles are shaped in a way that snow will blow around the lights, not accumulate on them.

When not moving and parked snow gets on the lights of any vehicle and needs to be brushed off, that's expected. What isn't expected is snow accumulating on the lights of a moving vehicle. Unless I have just lucked out and bought 10 consecutive unicorns that didn't have a moving snow vehicle accumulation issue, including things like my first car (junker Plymouth Sundance).

literally nothing you just said was relevant to the conversation.

Vehicles with recessed headlights accumulate snow on them. Rivians, jeeps, and now cybertrucks.

 

[Cybertruck2024]

literally nothing you just said was relevant to the conversation.

Vehicles with recessed headlights accumulate snow on them. Rivians, jeeps, and now cybertrucks.

The fact I live in the snowiest city in the country and never had a vehicle that required repeatedly stopping and brushing off the lights before isn't relevant to this conversation? Seemed pretty on topic to me.

 

[CyberTruckeeTheOne]

Have you had the inner surface of the windshield in front of the cameras cleaned?

Is there a space in between the camera and the windshield to clean it.

I just assumed the degradation was situational caused by the dusty road since I was able to use the FSD back on the pavement.

My disappointment was that the FSD vision cameras should have been superior or state-of-the art since I can still clearly see the road despite the minor dust.

 

[HaulingAss]

I was just thinking of my wife driving during the winter. If she had to clean the bumper so she could drive - no bueno!! as well as unsafe.

It's only unsafe if you don't clear the headlights, same with any car.

Worst case scenario, in really bad conditions, you have to stop and clear the headlights more often. I love driving in these conditions, here in the N. Cascades, it means the skiing at higher altitudes is going to be absolutely delicious. I've driven in blizzards at night so bad (good) that my Mazda CX-5 with flush mounted HID headlights (warmer than LEDs) had to be cleared off every 30-40 minutes of driving. Love it!

This is a non-issue for those willing to drive in such conditions. Wear appropriate clothing and gloves, get out and clear the snow/ice. Always use good judgement in selecting places to pull off the road, because there will always be bozos not equipped for winter roads who will slide into you if you park in the wrong spots. This is nothing new to anyone with experience driving in severe winter conditions, especially since cars started coming with the superior lighting of cooler running LEDs.

LEDs actually have an advantage in really cold conditions. Previously, hotter headlights would ice up from the heat melting the snow, when it was cold enough to do so. Cooler LEDs have more problem at transition temperatures, less problem in colder conditions (because they aren't hot enough to form ice when it's cold enough).

Winter motoring has never been for pussies. Many of us don't know how good we have it now. Be careful out there!

 

[SCTesla]

This was something pointed out by Dirty Tesla and Kyle from Out of Spec a while ago. It was also mentioned by everyone's favorite left leaning YTer(don't remember his name). It's an issue, it's also an issue on Jeeps, but I'm sure we'll see creative solutions to remedy it.

 

[HaulingAss]

literally nothing you just said was relevant to the conversation.

Vehicles with recessed headlights accumulate snow on them. Rivians, jeeps, and now cybertrucks.

My Mazda had protruding bug-eye HID projector headlights, and they would regularly ice up when driving in severe winter conditions.

People who have never had this happen with any car don't drive in very severe winter conditions very often.

 

[agordon117]

My Mazda had protruding bug-eye HID projector headlights, and they would regularly ice up when driving in severe winter conditions.

People who have never had this happen with any car don't drive in very severe winter conditions very often.

There's a difference between what you talked about in your other post and what the truck is going to require. In like for like conditions, my model Y would go at least 40 miles where my jeep would have needed cleaned off after 3 miles.


Just because other cars eventually need headlights cleaned in some conditions doesn't excuse the order of magnitude difference that there will be between a model Y and a cybertruck needing cleaned off.

I don't know what the answer is yet, but I know that my heated headlights on my jeep are an absolute lifesaver in the winter.

 

[HaulingAss]

The illegal light bar may need to get some emergency use on my Beast if this happens...

Why? Because you don't like to get outside in the blizzard and clear your headlights? I've driven in plenty of conditions in various vehicles that would require cleaning of roof-mounted lights too.

Please don't run roof-mounted off-road lights in the snow when there are other road users in the vicinity! The glare would be blinding to other drivers. Get out and clear your headlights, for the love of god!

Or, don't go out in blizzards, if you are that lazy!

 

[HaulingAss]

There's a difference between what you talked about in your other post and what the truck is going to require. In like for like conditions, my model Y would go at least 40 miles where my jeep would have needed cleaned off after 3 miles.


Just because other cars eventually need headlights cleaned in some conditions doesn't excuse the order of magnitude difference that there will be between a model Y and a cybertruck needing cleaned off.

I don't know what the answer is yet, but I know that my heated headlights on my jeep are an absolute lifesaver in the winter.

Different vehicles will have different clearing requirements, like I said in a post a few minutes ago. Deal with it! Maybe Tesla will even come out with some 48V headlight ice melters to mount on the bumpers for $250-$350. They wouldn't be worth it for most people. Even a skier like myself would probably just keep doing it how I've always done it, get out and clean them as needed.

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