Tesla Brings Full Wiper Controls To Steering Wheel Via Software Update

Tesla Model 3 and Model Y owners can now change the speed of the wipers without touching the stalk.

Tesla Model Y interior

Iulian Dnistran

By: Iulian Dnistran

Jul 13, 2023 at 9:14am ET

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Tesla has released an over-the-air software update that includes a convenience feature requested by many Model 3 and Model Y owners on social media.

The latest version, 2023.20, adds new windscreen wiper controls that allow the user to adjust the speed of their windshield wipers directly from the steering wheel, without having to activate the wipers first, according to NotATeslaApp.

In other words, drivers can customize the left steering wheel button to adjust the speed of the wipers, turn them off, or set them to auto.

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Previously, with software version 2023.12, Tesla introduced a feature that allowed users to adjust the wiper speed by tilting the scroll wheel left and right, but this only worked after pressing the left stalk button to activate the wipers.

A few weeks ago, Elon Musk apologized on Twitter for the poor performance of the auto-sensing wipers feature, saying that it was one of the last neural nets to be upgraded from single camera/single frame to surround video.

What the outspoken CEO is referring to is the car's ability to pull information from all its video cameras, including the rear-facing one, to get a better understanding of the environment. This way, the wipers will supposedly stop turning on when there isn't a drop of water on the windshield, as the video in the tweet shows.

However, if for whatever reason Musk's plan fails, there's always the good-old-fashioned manual trigger for the wipers or the timed setting.

What do you think?

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The latest OTA software version released by Tesla also includes improvements to the so-called Full Self-Driving Beta driver assistance system, a new smartphone app feature that allows owners to set a PIN code that has to be entered before driving off, a new screen that shows how many miles it's been since the last tire service, and the ability to preview any of the car's video cameras, among other other things.

As always, we'd like to know what you think about this, so head over to the comments section below to give us your thoughts.