weird wiper design decision...

So I had an odd issue with my wipers which has led to an interesting discovery.

I put my wipers in to "service mode" and then lifted the driver's side wiper while cleaning my windshield. When I did so, I heard a "twang" and pieces went flying. Turns out that under the arm, instead of building a spring long enough to reach from the top connection point to the bottom one, the spring is only 3/4 the length with the extra 1/4 made up of a short linkage.
I can't fathom why anyone would have made this design choice, it ads unneeded complication, and, as I proved, another failure point. In short, that linkage went missing as it flew, never to be seen again.

Luckily for me, when I called Tesla, they had a ranger in the area, sent new parts FedEx overnight, and the Ranger stopped by to fix it the next day.

Unfortunately the parts person in Vancouver sent the wrong wiper arm (passenger instead of driver) and the wrong wiper blade (for a roadster of all things!). Luckily the ranger was able to Jerry rig something from the parts on hand to make my wipers useable again, and I'm on the list for the next Ranger trip to the area to fix it right. Also took care of my seatbelt "recall" while he was here.

So, the service was exactly what I've come to expect from Tesla, amazing, and yet horribly disorganized all at the same time.

 

As I discovered, you are correct. Only vehicle I've ever worked with where they wouldn't, so I was a bit surprised. Sure I can work with it, but it would be easier to clean the windshield or apply RainX were I able to pull the wipers off and have them stay up.