Let's come up with an alternative Beautiful Awesome Wiper for Elon

[JBee]

vertical tracks along both sides of window with blade that telescopes between them as the window gets wider towards the bottom.

Will only work well when stationary. Whilst driving the water pushed forwards will slide back up the windscreen from the force of the air flowing over the vehicle, at which point you have to wipe it down again until it eventually makes its way off the sides of the windscreen.

Much better to do side by side, then you also don't need it to telescope which will make it much heavier and less rigid.

BTW I looked at that CAD model the other day and had to giggle about the boxes in the bed next to the wheel arches to house the suspension springs.

Sponsored

 

[Crissa]

Hair is WTF.

Jacket is funky as hell.

One boot untucked.

If ya’ll are thinking this truck is being designed by the captain of the high school football team you are smoking crack. Musk is the king of nerds. He’s building a truck worthy of the king of nerds and doesn’t give AF what people think. It’s a battle tank for a nerd king.

Hair is simple, off the ears, low maintenance.
The jacket is from the factory.

Looks like he slept there. Maybe he did.

-Crissa

 

[HaulingAss]

Hair is simple, off the ears, low maintenance.
The jacket is from the factory.

Looks like he slept there. Maybe he did.

-Crissa

And the guy standing next to him, the Secretary of Labor, is thinking, "That tour just blew my mind! What a frickin' amazing factory. I can't believe it's real! It makes UAW factories look like forced labor in a third world country. And everything I thought I knew about Elon was completely wrong! The foundation of my world has just been smashed wide open and I feel like I'm falling."

Elon's like, "Hey, that was a bitchin tour I just gave'!"

 

[rlhamil]

Like everything else on the Cybertruck it should be durable, inexpensive, reliable, and add the least amount of drag to the truck (for range).

Durable? Get Silblade to make the actual wiper blades themselves. I had a pair of those for over a decade. Admittedly in a climate with only occasional extremes of snow, ice, dirt, sun, etc; but compared to the six months to year range out of normal blades, that's crazy good.

 

[rlhamil]

And the guy standing next to him, the Secretary of Labor, is thinking, "That tour just blew my mind! What a frickin' amazing factory. I can't believe it's real! It makes UAW factories look like forced labor in a third world country. And everything I thought I knew about Elon was completely wrong! The foundation of my world has just been smashed wide open and I feel like I'm falling."

Elon's like, "Hey, that was a bitchin tour I just gave'!"

Both wearing cowboy boots in Texas, of course; can't miss the chance to make a statement.

 

[Ogre]

Hair is simple, off the ears, low maintenance.
The jacket is from the factory.

Looks like he slept there. Maybe he did.

-Crissa

Kind of my point.

Not ragging on him. I’ve made similar choices in my life.

If people are worried about what the wiper looks like, they probably are buying the wrong truck.

Cybertruck is practical first and foremost. Easy to build so cheaper to sell. Durable long lasting… If the shape is appealing, it’s mostly coincidence.


My only concern about the wiper is the possibility it’ll get snagged by a tree branch in the woods.

 

[Ogre]

Elon's like, "Hey, that was a bitchin tour I just gave'!"

More likely thinking about some detail which he noticed while giving the tour and already thinking about fixing it.

I watched him give Everyday Astronaut a tour of the Starlink facility. Halfway through the tour He gets asked a question and just completely blows it off for about 2 minutes. Then he looks back at Tim Dodd almost as if he’s surprised Tim is still there. “I’m sorry I was thinking about something else, what was the question again?”

I don’t think Musk can be near his babies and not think about ways to improve processes. Some political blow hard was just A momentary distraction.

 

[GnarlyDudeLive]

The issue with any of the magnetic wiper solutions posed here have 2 major flaws as I see it.

1. Strong magnets that allow the blade to glide over the window with out a track to fully lock it in pose the issue of during a crash that the wiper becomes a heat seeking missile just waiting to impale a bystander.
2. Tracks along the side to secure the wiper are going to be a nightmare to maintain, clean, and be clear of debris and ice that would prevent proper function.

I see the possibility of dual wipers on each side but that would require dual cameras up front so that they can be cleared as required for visibility. This is way more added cost vs a single wiper solution to accomplish the same exact task.

I do wonder though how much need is there for the front camera to actually have a wiper to keep it clean? None of the other cameras on the vehicle have a cleaning mechanism that I am aware of. If it is actually required, perhaps a cutout for the camera in the glass could work with a camera taking a page from nature where the lens has an "eyelid" that periodically blinks to maintain clarity. I doubt it would be durable, however, It would give it more legit Cyber street cred, .

 

[happy intruder]

Like everything else on the Cybertruck it should be durable, inexpensive, reliable, and add the least amount of drag to the truck (for range).

Most alternative ideas I’ve heard are more complicated, more expensive, likely less reliable, and often add drag.

The current incarnation is fine. If I cared about “Pretty” I’d get a Rivian.

cant wait to see the auto-version......

 

[HaulingAss]

The issue with any of the magnetic wiper solutions posed here have 2 major flaws as I see it.

1. Strong magnets that allow the blade to glide over the window with out a track to fully lock it in pose the issue of during a crash that the wiper becomes a heat seeking missile just waiting to impale a bystander.
2. Tracks along the side to secure the wiper are going to be a nightmare to maintain, clean, and be clear of debris and ice that would prevent proper function.

I see the possibility of dual wipers on each side but that would require dual cameras up front so that they can be cleared as required for visibility. This is way more added cost vs a single wiper solution to accomplish the same exact task.

I think it's pretty funny that so many people are seriously suggesting alternative wipers that are inferior to the current implementation in many ways, complexity, cost, effectiveness, ability to deal with adverse conditions, etc.

It just goes to show what Tesla can achieve when they employ first principles thinking and refuse to get side-tracked by outdated concepts people have about what a wiper SHOULD look like.

 

[GnarlyDudeLive]

More likely thinking about some detail which he noticed while giving the tour and already thinking about fixing it.

I watched him give Everyday Astronaut a tour of the Starlink facility. Halfway through the tour He gets asked a question and just completely blows it off for about 2 minutes. Then he looks back at Tim Dodd almost as if he’s surprised Tim is still there. “I’m sorry I was thinking about something else, what was the question again?”

I don’t think Musk can be near his babies and not think about ways to improve processes. Some political blow hard was just A momentary distraction.

Those are all traits of the condition previous referred to as Asperger's Syndrome. Highly intelligent yet still fairly socially functional with applied and focused effort.

 

[fritter63]

You want a better looking window wiper?

I vote for this:

 

[Crissa]

I watched him give Everyday Astronaut a tour of the Starlink facility. Halfway through the tour He gets asked a question and just completely blows it off for about 2 minutes. Then he looks back at Tim Dodd almost as if he’s surprised Tim is still there. “I’m sorry I was thinking about something else, what was the question again?”

Yeah, on one hand, it was a terrible interview, but we got to see him in his element, and suddenly... it wasn't. Tim was like, 'no, do your thing, I just feel lucky to see it'. Which is... a bit fanboyish, but the sort of access that made a good tour.

All those people who blow him off as a money guy should see how he actually interacts on the factory floor. He's half fanboy, half indispensable engineer. Other engineers work much better when they're told to just do the thing they just thought up. They know they have backing, and that's important.

-Crissa

 

[Ogre]

Those are all traits of the condition previous referred to as Asperger's Syndrome. Highly intelligent yet still fairly socially functional with applied and focused effort.

Yep. I don’t think I have Asperger’s or am on the spectrum, but I have some similar traits.

Yeah, on one hand, it was a terrible interview, but we got to see him in his element, and suddenly... it wasn't. Tim was like, 'no, do your thing, I just feel lucky to see it'. Which is... a bit fanboyish, but the sort of access that made a good tour.

All those people who blow him off as a money guy should see how he actually interacts on the factory floor. He's half fanboy, half indispensable engineer. Other engineers work much better when they're told to just do the thing they just thought up. They know they have backing, and that's important.

I think it’s good for people who think and act similarly and those who work with them to leave these moments in. There were a couple spots in the Lex Fridman interview which were similar.

Pretty sure Musk does not like dealing with politicians who have little to no understanding of engineering and would have preferred to not give the tour at all (or left it to someone else). But he is pragmatic and knows that playing ball with the suits is sometimes useful.

 

[anionic1]

I already solved this one. It needs to be a custom 5mm thick x 5cm wide piece of plate stainless with engineered rubber blades under it. It would probably need to be bent to maintain a uniform pressure. If that 3” exterior stainless A pillar above the door wrapped 3” toward the windshield as well the stainless plate wiper could be designed to fit into it on both sides of the windshield and we would have a real windshield wiper solution

Sponsored