Lights and Snow: tested, fail (ice covered headlights)!

[Osprey]

Had a chance to take the truck out in the endless snowstorm in southern Vermont. This evening there was some snowfall, nothing heavy / but the lights totally are inadequate. I have three other vehicles where there hasn’t been an issue (volvo wagon, g63, f250). The lights get clogged with snowfall, then the bits that melt freeze and create a sort of ice wall blocking the lights. This can’t be removed without a hammer (my scrapper couldn’t). Super bummed out about it as I was counting on it being a beast in the snow. I didn’t take pics while driving but if you don’t take my word for it, you’ll experience it soon enough if in snowy locations.
I’m wondering if a put a lower light bar if it’ll help…

Pretty dumb on Tesla to not have this are heated when needed. Foolish oversight. Hopefully they come out with and update either hardware or software or both to address.

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[Mariner Man]

Hi Folks,
Definitely a safety problem! I live in Maine and just experienced my first night time 'snowstorm' drive with my Cybertruck. It was snowing heavy, wet snow at night coming down at a good clip. I only had to drive 12 miles home but the light output from the truck degraded so quickly that I was total dependent upon the tail lights of the vehicle in front of me that kept me from driving off the road. I stopped twice to clear the lights, but within a few minutes they were occluded again. To make matters worse, the front led light bar on the Frunk was reflecting light off the large snowflakes that were coming down (like when you have your high beams on in an ICE vehicle) making it almost blinding glare back at me. Is there any way to dim that light?
It was a very unnerving experience. I typically enjoy driving at night in the snow in my Tundra, but this experience was downright dangerous! I was thankful that I did not have my family with me on that trip home.
I will not be driving my Cybertruck at night during the winter until Tesla comes up with solution. I liked the suggestion above from 'Themachineworks' of adding some heat producing IR LED's the light fixture in a future retrofit to melt the snow. However, there still needs to be a sealed extended clear lens cover over the light that comes out flush with bumper to prevent snow build up.

I caution other Cybertruck owners to be please be very careful! This issue is no joke. I will not be surprised to read about future accidents of these otherwise excellent vehicles being driven at night during snowstorms due to limited visibility.

 

[MyOtherTruck]

I wonder if adding a light bar in the bottom would work for these situations. I see TSportline had a set of 2 or an entire bar that goes across. I don’t want to do it but if it works,… well.

 

[Guylouis]

Maybe the CT light bar can be utilized or tweaked as part of the solution for those that have it?
Waiting for Tesla to tell me when mine will be available.

Off-road light bar is Works totally independent of the other lights. I can turn off the headlights and turn on the Off road light bar

 

[bigmoose70]

Hi Folks,
Definitely a safety problem! I live in Maine and just experienced my first night time 'snowstorm' drive with my Cybertruck. It was snowing heavy, wet snow at night coming down at a good clip. I only had to drive 12 miles home but the light output from the truck degraded so quickly that I was total dependent upon the tail lights of the vehicle in front of me that kept me from driving off the road. I stopped twice to clear the lights, but within a few minutes they were occluded again. To make matters worse, the front led light bar on the Frunk was reflecting light off the large snowflakes that were coming down (like when you have your high beams on in an ICE vehicle) making it almost blinding glare back at me. Is there any way to dim that light?
It was a very unnerving experience. I typically enjoy driving at night in the snow in my Tundra, but this experience was downright dangerous! I was thankful that I did not have my family with me on that trip home.
I will not be driving my Cybertruck at night during the winter until Tesla comes up with solution. I liked the suggestion above from 'Themachineworks' of adding some heat producing IR LED's the light fixture in a future retrofit to melt the snow. However, there still needs to be a sealed extended clear lens cover over the light that comes out flush with bumper to prevent snow build up.

I caution other Cybertruck owners to be please be very careful! This issue is no joke. I will not be surprised to read about future accidents of these otherwise excellent vehicles being driven at night during snowstorms due to limited visibility.

Same issue I had. Another first account example same as mine. Thank you..

 

[Gavinbee]

Hi Folks,
Definitely a safety problem! I live in Maine and just experienced my first night time 'snowstorm' drive with my Cybertruck. It was snowing heavy, wet snow at night coming down at a good clip. I only had to drive 12 miles home but the light output from the truck degraded so quickly that I was total dependent upon the tail lights of the vehicle in front of me that kept me from driving off the road. I stopped twice to clear the lights, but within a few minutes they were occluded again. To make matters worse, the front led light bar on the Frunk was reflecting light off the large snowflakes that were coming down (like when you have your high beams on in an ICE vehicle) making it almost blinding glare back at me. Is there any way to dim that light?
It was a very unnerving experience. I typically enjoy driving at night in the snow in my Tundra, but this experience was downright dangerous! I was thankful that I did not have my family with me on that trip home.
I will not be driving my Cybertruck at night during the winter until Tesla comes up with solution. I liked the suggestion above from 'Themachineworks' of adding some heat producing IR LED's the light fixture in a future retrofit to melt the snow. However, there still needs to be a sealed extended clear lens cover over the light that comes out flush with bumper to prevent snow build up.

I caution other Cybertruck owners to be please be very careful! This issue is no joke. I will not be surprised to read about future accidents of these otherwise excellent vehicles being driven at night during snowstorms due to limited visibility.

So this has nothing to do with parked cars accumulating snow and having to remove with a brush..

And everything to do with actual driving experience caused by non-LED lights, no heat warmers, poor design...

Thanks for sharing. Hopefully Tesla is watching this thread and working on a solution...

 

[Broski]

So this has nothing to do with parked cars accumulating snow and having to remove with a brush..

And everything to do with actual driving experience caused by non-LED lights, no heat warmers, poor design...

Thanks for sharing. Hopefully Tesla is watching this thread and working on a solution...

Or those affected raise it with their Tesla SC

 

[T Sportline]

For these type situations our LED ditch lights would be ideal, if spec'd as fog lights and aimed properly. Our LED POD is self-heating (much hotter than the factory headlights or light bar), so accumulation mitigation is much better. And our Amber / Yellow lens is best for heavy precipitation scenarios (fog, rain, snow).


https://tsportline.com/collections/...tch-light-kit-morimoto?variant=48647928447265

 

[BlueLightning]

Just take the Big @$$ wiper blade and bang on the ice till it clears up…this vehicle is not Mars ready?!

 

[mjezzi]

For these type situations our LED ditch lights would be ideal, if spec'd as fog lights and aimed properly. Our LED POD is self-heating (much hotter than the factory headlights or light bar), so accumulation mitigation is much better. And our Amber / Yellow lens is best for heavy precipitation scenarios (fog, rain, snow).


https://tsportline.com/collections/...tch-light-kit-morimoto?variant=48647928447265

I would love something like this if it could be mounted lower and in an inconspicuous way.

 

[T Sportline]

I would love something like this if it could be mounted lower and in an inconspicuous way.

...coming soon

 

[Bothwalien]

I had the same experience driving home from work through a blizzard in the middle of the night last week in Northern Utah. I actually love driving in the snow, and this was my first time in the Cybertruck. The snow tire package was installed by Tesla a few days before and I was excited to test them out. The tires were awesome. However, the lightbar caused a lot of unhelpful reflection (almost like when you flip your brights on in a blizzard). It's only a five mile trip and by the time I was home my headlights were covered and the light output was noticeably dimmer. If I have to go on a longer trip at night in the snow I will seriously be using painters tape on the lightbar until Tesla (hopefully) comes out with a software fix.

My 2022 Model 3 was fine in the snow at night but our 2018 Model 3 had the switchable foglights which were even better. I was sad to see Tesla discontinue them, even though we only used them a few times a year. Anyway, it got me thinking about a foglight solution for the Cybertruck.

I spent a lot of time looking at lighting options available from 3rd party Tesla suppliers and none (that I found) are street legal and look like they are tailored for off road use. Even with aimable lights that is not as a good as a purpose built lens that focuses the light where you want it and stops it where you don't. I found this set on Amazon that IS street legal and one review states it has a hard upper cutoff so as not to blind oncoming traffic.

https://a.co/d/5h59dHE

I bought this set of mounting brackets from Cybertruck.co

https://cybertruckco.com/product/tesla-cybertruck-universal-fog-light-mounting-brackets/

A 48V to 12V converter: (included with mounting brackets from Cybertruck.co)

https://a.co/d/eL9kKKi

And finally a extra mounting bracket for the lights. I can't tell until the lights arrive but it looks like they are set up to mount from the bottom, and I will need them to mount on the side. I'm hoping this will work.

https://a.co/d/gO9zLaP

If I had found a package already vetted and put together by somebody I would have pushed the easy button, but if this works it will be cheaper than any of the options I can see currently available and street legal. I will post with results when everything arrives and gets put together.

 

[mjezzi]

An effective cheap solution could be to just mold a clear plastic insert that fits into the shelf of the front bumper to eliminate the snow cave effect. Hmm, make you could even DIY with plexiglass.

As a bonus possibly add heating elements into it where the headlights shine through.

 

[devdrone6]

I had the same experience driving home from work through a blizzard in the middle of the night last week in Northern Utah. I actually love driving in the snow, and this was my first time in the Cybertruck. The snow tire package was installed by Tesla a few days before and I was excited to test them out. The tires were awesome. However, the lightbar caused a lot of unhelpful reflection (almost like when you flip your brights on in a blizzard). It's only a five mile trip and by the time I was home my headlights were covered and the light output was noticeably dimmer. If I have to go on a longer trip at night in the snow I will seriously be using painters tape on the lightbar until Tesla (hopefully) comes out with a software fix.

My 2022 Model 3 was fine in the snow at night but our 2018 Model 3 had the switchable foglights which were even better. I was sad to see Tesla discontinue them, even though we only used them a few times a year. Anyway, it got me thinking about a foglight solution for the Cybertruck.

I spent a lot of time looking at lighting options available from 3rd party Tesla suppliers and none (that I found) are street legal and look like they are tailored for off road use. Even with aimable lights that is not as a good as a purpose built lens that focuses the light where you want it and stops it where you don't. I found this set on Amazon that IS street legal and one review states it has a hard upper cutoff so as not to blind oncoming traffic.

https://a.co/d/5h59dHE

I bought this set of mounting brackets from Cybertruck.co

https://cybertruckco.com/product/tesla-cybertruck-universal-fog-light-mounting-brackets/

A 48V to 12V converter:

https://a.co/d/eL9kKKi

And finally a extra mounting bracket for the lights. I can't tell until the lights arrive but it looks like they are set up to mount from the bottom, and I will need them to mount on the side. I'm hoping this will work.

https://a.co/d/gO9zLaP

If I had found a package already vetted and put together by somebody I would have pushed the easy button, but if this works it will be cheaper than any of the options I can see currently available and street legal. I will post with results when everything arrives and gets put together.

This is exactly what I've been thinking about for last few days, just haven't pulled the trigger.

But the pods I was looking at are these: Amazon.com: Nilight 4 Inch LED Pod Lights Heated Lens with DRL 60W Square Super Spot Light 16AWG Wiring Harness Kit for Offroad Anti Freeze Function LED Work Lights for Truck UTV ATV SUV Jeep : Automotive

BTW, the Cybertruck.co brackets include the 12v converter.

 

[mjezzi]

...coming soon

A light bar that would sit inside the self between the headlights would look really good. It would need to perform as well as the headlights.

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