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Dec 28, 2023

Tesla Cybertruck's jumbo single windshield wiper seems to leave a lot of the window dirty

Tesla's head of design, Franz von Holzhausen, recently shared a picture of a

Tesla's head of design, Franz von Holzhausen, recently shared a picture of a Cybertruck prototype that appears to show its ginormous, single windshield wiper leaves a lot to be desired.

In the first photo seen of the windshield in use, a close inspection of the picture shows that the lone windshield wiper on the electric pickup truck fails to clear a large swatch of the window. How much of that uncleared is actually helpful to seeing out of the vehicle? That's debatable.

During Tesla's Investor Day last week, a pre-production prototype of the Cybertruck was on display. Since then, new images of the vehicle keep popping up on social media — highlighting its massive "frunk," its steering contraption, and the massive windshield wiper was hard to miss.

The singular windshield wiper is perhaps the largest Tesla has yet to put on the truck. Unlike most cars, which have wipers that tuck neatly against or below the hood of the vehicle, the Cybertruck's lone windshield wiper appears to rest upright along the side of the windshield when its not in use. It's kind of a like a bus in that regard.

It's unclear whether the windshield wiper from the photo will be included in the final product, as the Cybertruck is still in development.

Earlier this year, Insider shared photos that appeared to show the same windshield wiper design in a leaked video of the prototype.

In the past, Elon Musk has said there's "no easy solution" to the vehicle's massive windshield.

"Deployable wiper that stows in front trunk would be ideal, but complex," Musk said on Twitter in 2021.

The initial 2019 design for the Cybertruck didn't even include windshield wipers. Last year, the electric-car maker appeared to experiment with a smaller, switchblade-style windshield wiper that could extend and retract as it was used, Fox News reported.

The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration does not have standards for the design of windshield wipers, but it does require the device to be able to clear debris from a designated portion of the window in front of the driver's seat. The initial design also did not include side mirrors, an issue that Tesla was forced to remedy due to FMCSA regulations.

Musk has pushed back the production timeline for the Cybertruck at least three times. Last year, Reuters reported that the delays were due to design changes, citing an individual with knowledge of the issue. Most recently, the billionaire said on Investor's Day that the truck will be delivered this year — about two years later than he had first predicted.