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Do the heated wiper blades do anything?

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I like the heated wiper blades. You need to think about it as wiper anti-icing and not wiper de-icing. Unfortunately it is off by default so you need to turn it on before every drive in cold weather. I find it keeps the blades malleable giving a better wipe in cold weather. Just don't wait till the wipers are iced up before turning it on. By then it is useless.
 
Winterizing Challenges - Ideas

Is it just me, or with the Autopilot features, including lane assist, auto braking, etc., could the Winter Package not Automatically trigger the Winter Function On - according to the Outside Temps - so that The Car is taking care of THOSE Safety Elements without Fiddling so much? I Mean - When I leave my ICE Soul parked, the settings I left it at for this cold weather are still there when I start it up again, and If I left the Seat Heater on, it is on Again too, just like Defrost Settings, Temps, Airflow direction, etc., So no need to re-set them on start up, as seemed to be suggested in comments above for some of these Defrost/Wiper Heater settings.

Also - something Tesla could add to the Winter Package - is a Windshield Washer Fluid Heater, and with their creativity, I bet they could have it's temp managed as well! It would also seem that since the Windshield Wiper Landing Zone is the only spot covered (as suggested by the comments stating - just one wire for the defrosting zone), maybe they could up that to at least 3 wires (flat printed circuit like ribbons I guess is more like it), spaced about .5" - .75" apart so as to cover about 1" - 1.5" area! An alternative to that - is something like Aircraft use - Global Express Business Jet (& Others I expect!) uses an embedded circuit within the Windshield that is likely quite expensive, but it could be an item of interest to discuss, at least!

Another thing the Winter Package could include - an extra layer of High-performance Insulation either surrounding the Complete Battery Box/Pack or surrounding all the Batteries - INSIDE the Battery Box - so that when it is heated, the heat does not escape so fast to the outside cold; or - the Package could be changed to be: Winterizing Package 1 (Just like it is), and Winterizing Package 2 (With more extreme efforts included to handle temps below -20C).

Just some thoughts. Things Like Aerogel is used in Construction Blankets now too, and there are other, more durable high-performance Insulation Techniques that would be handy when it is hitting -25 to -35C outside, to keep the Pack Warm once it is pre-heated, and materials like this could also be included in the interior Insulation items, I think.

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Have you priced out windshields on Bombardier products lately? I seem to recall $80000 about ten years ago when I was flying regional jets. And that was just for one side. I think the tiny wires inside are gold. Highly effective though I'll give you that! As for the battery, I was thinking about an insulating blanket that could be strapped under the car like a jacket. Don't forget to remove before driving. And stow in the frunk.
 
Another thing the Winter Package could include - an extra layer of High-performance Insulation either surrounding the Complete Battery Box/Pack or surrounding all the Batteries - INSIDE the Battery Box - so that when it is heated, the heat does not escape so fast to the outside cold; or - the Package could be changed to be: Winterizing Package 1 (Just like it is), and Winterizing Package 2 (With more extreme efforts included to handle temps below -20C).

In the summer, the issue is heat removal - which becomes tougher when the pack is insulated. Apparently overheating the battery will severely degrade it.
 
Have you priced out windshields on Bombardier products lately? I seem to recall $80000 about ten years ago when I was flying regional jets. And that was just for one side. I think the tiny wires inside are gold. Highly effective though I'll give you that! As for the battery, I was thinking about an insulating blanket that could be strapped under the car like a jacket. Don't forget to remove before driving. And stow in the frunk.

My Land Rover has tiny wires embedded in the windshield about 2mm apart. Cost was $650 last time I replaced it.
 
Then Landrover should market them to Bombardier aeronautical. I've never seen those in a car but can vouch for them being extremely effective at deicing aircraft windshields. If they can be made cheaply a heated windshield would surely be much less of a drain on the battery than defrosting it with air. Sign me up for a retrofit.
 
@EVFest: All suggestions worth looking into, IMO.

I'm sure the winter package will continue to evolve (like with the recent addition of a heated steering wheel) as Tesla receives more feedback from owners in cold climates. Hopefully, they will incorporate some of your ideas in one form or another.
 
I had a not so great winter experience in my car today. I drove from Toronto to London and back. Today there was 5-10 cm of snow on my way to London and rain and freezing rain on the way home. I stopped each way at the Woodstock SC to charge up to about 80%.

On on the way home my windshield was icing up very badly as was the rear window. In order to prevent these I had to run the defrosters. But if I ran the defrosters 100% of the time I would be touch and go to make it home to Toronto. So I also had to go through many litres of WW fluid and stop at the On Route gas station to get more WW fluid. The guy said that they don't see many Teslas at that gas station;-) The normal 2.25 hour drive ended up taking 5 hours, including a 30 min stop at the SC.

In in addition the front sensor under the license plate kept icing up. I would clear it and within 5 minutes it would be iced over again. This was very frustrating.

I realize that you can't engineer the car for all conditions but I really think they need to improve the front defroster and they REALLY need to improve the front sensor. Having a concave sensor is asinine in places that get snow - let's see a retrofit with a convex lens.

The car handled fine in the snow, but if if I had to do it all over again I would take my ICE vehicle.
 
Yesterday, as some of you know already, we had a "bit" of snow. I was driving while the wiper heater was on and I was checking its status every 10 minutes to make sure it doesn't turn off. All I can say it was USELESS. Some times I wonder if it actually heats the blades at all.
 
Were the wipers going continuously or intermittent? If they are in continuous operation they would spend very little time in the heated zone. The times I've used them they were going intermittently and therefore spending most of their time in the heated zone. Haven't tried them in heavy wet snow yet though.
 
Yesterday, as some of you know already, we had a "bit" of snow. I was driving while the wiper heater was on and I was checking its status every 10 minutes to make sure it doesn't turn off. All I can say it was USELESS. Some times I wonder if it actually heats the blades at all.

Unfortunately my observation is the same; they are not very effective. It may help a little in keeping freezing rain from turning into ice. But it's useless for snow.
 
My Land Rover has tiny wires embedded in the windshield about 2mm apart. Cost was $650 last time I replaced it.

The Land Rover, I'm pretty sure, does not cruise at over 450 knots and have a pressurized interior. The windshield does not have to be tested to be safe when hit by a 4 pound bird at cruise speed!

eCFR Code of Federal Regulations
http://www.faa.gov/documentLibrary/media/Advisory_Circular/AC25-775-1.pdf

Further, the windshield is specific to a particular aircraft type, of which there are usually at most hundreds in operation, versus tens of thousands of cars.

Of course the aircraft windshield is going to be an order of magnitude more expensive.
 
I find that the first production runs of vehicles designed in the US always underestimate the cold weather needs. A few years back I owned a 2008 Toyota Tacoma, great truck and fun to drive, but the mirrors were NOT heated. Not only was this dangerous in winter weather but the fog would get stuck to it too. After a car wash I had to wipe down the glass to see. I currently have a Scion IQ and the dash has little tiny air vents pointing at just the right spots to keep the windshield clear. The car was made in Japan.