Tech

Cybertruck owners discover one-piece windshield wiper design has one insurmountable foe: Rain

The windshield wiper motors are reportedly burning out.

Photo of Marlon Ettinger

Marlon Ettinger

Tesla Cybertruck

Rumors of Cybertruck delivery delays circulated on the Cybertruck Owners Club Forum over the weekend amid reports of issues with the truck’s unique, single-piece windshield wiper design, which one poster deemed a “safety” concern

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“Just heard that all Cybertruck deliveries have been halted for about a week,” wrote Greyfish in a thread compiling complaints about the windshield wiper issue. “Apparently a new safety issue was discovered with the windshield wiper motor.”

Cybertruck windshield wiper issues

Posters cataloged issues with the windshield wiper in the thread, from the motor powering the four-foot-long blade not working at all to it quickly burning out after minimal usage.

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“My wiper has not worked for a while was told to wait for few weeks for a wiper motor,” explained one poster. “Option was they keep the truck or I reschedule. Took the truck back.. crazy !”

Plenty of posters described long-running issues with the motors, leading some to theorize that the old motors will eventually need replacing.

“My wiper never worked,” added plaidmodelx. “Took 2 weeks to get the part. Apparently the old motors will all fail, the replacement has a new part number.”

But other posters pushed back on the rumor that the windshield wiper motors were likely to break.

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“I’ve used my wipers a lot over the last 1855 miles without noticing any problem,” posted HaulingAss. “You say it’s a safety issue? I will pray that no harm comes to me!”

Tesla doesn’t have an official line on the windshield wiper problem yet and didn’t immediately reply to questions about the issue.

In April, Tesla recalled about 4,000 of its trucks over problems with the accelerator pedal trim. According to a press release, the pad on the accelerator pedal dislodged when “high force” was applied, leading to the pedal becoming stuck.

Reports from Cybertruck owners regarding the current windshield wiper problem aren’t quite as concering, but some have pointed out that the windshield wiper not working makes driving in the rain dangerous.

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“I picked up on Tuesday in Florida and left and made it 20 miles and it started pouring raining,” wrote Cnod in the Cybertruck Owners Club Form thread. “ Had to sit in a Dunkin Donuts for 3.5 hours and call Tesla roadside assistance because i couldn’t see … Once the rain passed, i took the CT and added some Rainx for now. But it was super dangerous…had to open my window and hang out the window to see until i could get to a safe place with the wiper not working.”

The windshield problems, as well as complaints that the design of the wiper was distracting, led a few people to suggest applying Rain-X to the windshield, a chemical product that makes water bead up and run off the glass.

“I highly recommend putting a double layer of rainx or some other treatment on your windshield,” posted WichitaDad. “When you do, the wiper becomes irrelevant and much less distracting during a rain.”


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