First video of Tesla Cybertruck’s absurdly large windshield wiper in action
We’ve finally seen a video of a Cybertruck windshield wiper in action, which should put rest to the debate of whether or not the absurdly large wiper is functional or not.
Ever since the Cybertruck was first shown to the public, people have wondered how the enormous front window would be cleaned. Early prototypes had a huge windshield wiper, then later prototypes had a smaller one. We’ve even seen them without any wiper at all as recently as a few weeks ago, though the window still had a spot that looked like it could hold a wiper.
Throughout all of these videos and photos, we’ve never seen the wiper actually working. Nobody managed to catch the truck out in the rain in sunny California or Texas.
But now we’ve finally seen a video of the Cybertruck’s wiper in action with drone video today over Tesla’s Texas Gigafactory facility.
Here’s the full 4k video posted to youtube by Brad Sloan (with impressive resolution and zoom, well done Brad). The link is timestamped to 12:53 when the Cybertruck portion starts (wiper starts moving at 13:42):
The truck seems to be undergoing some sort of aerodynamic testing, parked on a rotating platform in front of an airflow simulator constructed from shipping containers. It was spotted in the same position yesterday, but the video is not nearly as good.
However, this is not a true wind tunnel, since it’s not large enough for the truck to be parked entirely inside. So it wouldn’t really aid analysis of airflows off the vehicle, because you don’t have access to the same instrumentation or controlled environment as a wind tunnel. There aren’t very many automotive wind tunnels around the world, and they’re very expensive.
But this could, at least, help to verify the windshield wiper’s functionality at speed, which seems to be what’s happening here.
An employee (who notes they’ve been spotted at 13:23) is standing outside the truck with a spray bottle, and is seen spraying it onto the windshield. The video has impressive resolution… but not quite enough to see individual water droplets.
It also looks like Tesla is prepared to record tests like this, with a tripod standing at the top of the tunnel’s exit. Though the shadow of the tripod shows that it may or may not be holding up a camera.
In the video, we can see that the sweep of the single giant wiper blade does indeed cover most of the truck’s enormous windshield, minus the corner above the passenger side.
With such a large windshield, this should be enough not to obscure anyone’s view. When we took a short ride in the Cybertruck at the unveiling event, the interior and windshield felt enormous.
We still don’t know if this is the final form of the wiper – it may change designs cosmetically before the truck comes out. And it still looks similar to the wiper that Tesla CEO Elon Musk said would not be on the final version of the truck.
But we can’t imagine they’d be testing a wiper like this, only months before the supposed beginning of production unless it was something close to its final form, so it looks like the wiper is likely to show up in a similar incarnation on the final vehicle.
The Cybertruck was originally slated to come out by late 2021, but has been pushed back multiple times. Most recently, Tesla says production will start this summer, but summer is rapidly approaching, so we’ll have to wait and see.
FTC: We use income earning auto affiliate links. More.
Hyundai is the latest carmaker offering significant discounts on electric vehicles in the UK. The Hyundai Electric Grant program offers up to £3,750 ($5,000) off popular EVs, including the Inster EV, IONIQ 5, and new IONIQ 9. And it’s not just the UK, Hyundai is launching deals in nearly every market.
Hyundai launches new EV grant program in the UK
Starting today, July 25, all Hyundai electric vehicles in the UK are eligible for the program. Hyundai’s EV grant offers buyers £3,750 ($5,000) off the 2025 Inster, the brand’s new entry-level electric SUV.
The savings are available across Hyundai’s entire EV lineup, with £1,500 ($2,000) in savings on the IONIQ 5, Kona Electric, and IONIQ 9.
“As the electric vehicle landscape continues to evolve, it is important that customers have complete clarity, choice and compelling value when making the switch to electric,” Ashley Andrew, president of Hyundai and Genesis UK, said on Friday.
After launching the Inster EV and its flagship IONIQ 9 this year, Hyundai now offers a complete lineup ranging from entry-level to a three-row electric SUV.
The EV grant is available immediately across Hyundai’s UK dealer network, including for retail, Hyundai Affinity, or Contract Hire purchases.
Until August 31, buyers can score an extra £500 ($671) off the Inster EV and Kona Electric through Hyundai’s Electrifying Summer promo.
Hyundai is also offering 24-hour test drives, allowing customers to try it before making a purchase. The Korean automaker follows other brands, including MG and Leapmotor, to offer discounts ahead of the UK’s new EV grant program.
According to new registration data from Jato, Hyundai was the 10th best-selling EV brand in Europe in the first half of 2025.
The Inster EV, priced from £23,505 ($31,500), cracked the top 20 most registered EVs last month with over 3,300 units sold. Hyundai Motor, including Kia’s share of the EV market, rose from 12.6% to 19.1% in H1 2025.
Hyundai is offering significant savings on electric vehicles not just in the UK, but essentially in every market, including the US, right now.
Following the launch of an aggressive sales promotion this summer, Hyundai is now offering 0% interest for 60 months on its top-selling SUVs. The savings are available on new EV models, including the 2025 IONIQ 5 and 2026 IONIQ 9 (see our review of it).
The 2025 Hyundai IONIQ 5, which now offers up to 318 miles of range and a NACS port for charging at Tesla Superchargers, is listed for lease at just $179 per month. That’s about the lowest national offer for an electric SUV currently available.
Both the IONIQ 5 and IONIQ 9 are built at Hyundai’s new EV plant in Georgia, so they still qualify for the $7,500 US tax credit. However, that’s set to end at the end of September.
Ready to try one out for yourself? You can use our links below to find offers on Hyundai’s electric vehicles in your area.
FTC: We use income earning auto affiliate links. More.
Tesla is stripping all meaning from the word “Robotaxi” as it plans to expand its supposedly autonomous ride-hailing program to the Bay Area as soon as this weekend, albeit with a driver in the driver’s seat.
As we have often highlighted over the last few months, Tesla’s ‘Robotaxi’ launch is purely about optics.
Tesla is not yet ready to launch a level 4 autonomous driving system, but Elon Musk needs Tesla to achieve a win in self-driving after years of failed promises.
They decided to launch “Robotaxi”, a ride-hailing service in Austin, Texas, but due to the automaker not being ready to deploy level 4 autonomy, it had to add a safety monitor in the passenger front seat at all times.
That passenger has access to controls capable of stopping the vehicle at all times, which is similar to how Tesla’s consumer version of ‘Supervised Full Self-Driving’ works. In short, it’s basically ‘Tesla Supervised Full Self-Driving’, but with the supervisor moving from the driver’s seat to the front passenger’s seat.
Those supervisors have already had dozens of interventions over just 7,000 miles in Austin over the last month.
Now, Tesla is looking to launch its ‘Robotaxi’ in the Bay Area. Rumors are that it could be as soon as this weekend.
However, during Tesla’s earnings call this week, Tesla’s head of self-driving, Ashok Elluswamy, confirmed that it will be with “a person in the driver’s seat”:
“The next is the San Francisco Bay Area. We are working with the government to get approval here, and meanwhile, we will launch the service with a person in the driver’s seat just to expedite while we wait for regulatory approval.”
The Tesla executive claims that Tesla is “waiting for regulatory approval”, but last we heard, Tesla has yet to apply for the proper permits to commercially operate autonomous vehicles in California.
Electrek’s Take
To be clear, this is no different than an Uber driver who owns a Tesla with FSD picking you up at the airport. Tesla is looking to launch an Uber service in the Bay Area with employees at the wheel who use FSD, and it is going to call it ‘Robotaxi’.
It’s no more than a distraction from the fact that Tesla can’t deliver a level 4 autonomous driving system.
FTC: We use income earning auto affiliate links. More.
Nexamp just pulled off something that could speed up clean energy deployment across the US – and potentially lower costs for everyone. The Boston-based solar developer just finished building three new solar farms in Maine and Massachusetts. But instead of waiting on the utility to handle all the grid hookup work, Nexamp did it themselves.
That might not sound groundbreaking at first, but in the world of renewable energy, it’s a pretty big deal. Normally, utilities are in charge of any grid upgrades and interconnection work needed before a new solar project can start sending power to homes and businesses. That process can be very slow and expensive.
Nexamp’s new approach, called “self-performance,” flips the script. It lets developers take on some of that work, like ordering and installing equipment, so they don’t have to sit around waiting for the utility to schedule it. That means solar farms can get online faster, which gets clean power to the grid sooner and keeps project costs in check.
The three projects that kicked off this self-performance effort are:
- Hartland Solar – 1.2 MW DC in Hartland, ME
- Barre Road Solar – 1.3 MW DC in New Braintree, MA
- Summit Farm Solar – 2.6 MW DC, also in New Braintree
Nexamp didn’t go rogue – they worked closely with Central Maine Power and National Grid on the interconnection designs, safety standards, and technical specs. But by handling the actual procurement and construction, Nexamp had way more control over cost, timing, and supply chain headaches.
“Self-performance lets us take much greater control over interconnection procurement and construction,” said Daniel Passarello, Nexamp’s lead consulting engineer for grid integration. “We can move much of the interconnection work forward at the same time as the solar farm build instead of treating them as separate. That helps us bring projects online faster and stay closer to budget.”
It also helps that Nexamp already has solid relationships with suppliers. Instead of going through multiple layers of utility procurement, they can go straight to the source, fast.
That kind of streamlining is exactly what the solar industry needs right now. Community solar is booming – as of the end of 2024, nearly 8 gigawatts of it have been installed across the US, according to the the Solar Energy Industries Association (SEIA), and that number is expected to almost double by 2030. But bottlenecks in the interconnection process slow things down.
Sara Birmingham, VP of state affairs at SEIA, called Nexamp’s move a step in the right direction. “We must modernize and streamline the interconnection process to keep pace with fast-growing demand,” she said. “Self-performance is one of several innovative approaches that can accelerate project timelines and lower costs, which benefits all ratepayers.”
Read more: Walmart and Nexamp are rolling out 31 solar farms in 5 states
The 30% federal solar tax credit is ending this year. If you’ve ever considered going solar, now’s the time to act. To make sure you find a trusted, reliable solar installer near you that offers competitive pricing, check out EnergySage, a free service that makes it easy for you to go solar. It has hundreds of pre-vetted solar installers competing for your business, ensuring you get high-quality solutions and save 20-30% compared to going it alone. Plus, it’s free to use, and you won’t get sales calls until you select an installer and share your phone number with them.
Your personalized solar quotes are easy to compare online and you’ll get access to unbiased Energy Advisors to help you every step of the way. Get started here.
FTC: We use income earning auto affiliate links. More.
-
Sports3 years ago‘Storybook stuff’: Inside the night Bryce Harper sent the Phillies to the World Series
-
Sports1 year agoStory injured on diving stop, exits Red Sox game
-
Sports2 years agoGame 1 of WS least-watched in recorded history
-
Sports2 years agoMLB Rank 2023: Ranking baseball’s top 100 players
-
Sports4 years ago
Team Europe easily wins 4th straight Laver Cup
-
Sports2 years agoButton battles heat exhaustion in NASCAR debut
-
Environment2 years agoJapan and South Korea have a lot at stake in a free and open South China Sea
-
Environment2 years agoGame-changing Lectric XPedition launched as affordable electric cargo bike