Windshield wiper system auto function not sensitive

[Cosmo Cruz]

Haven't read the string of post but does everyone know that the variable speed wiper was invented by an engineer who had to fight the industry to pay him for his invention?

Is this why the luxury car Lucid can't afford to have a wiper that meets the needs of people who don't live in a fn desert?

I use this (and RainX) for the kind of RAIN people who designed this car, and build this car, never experience = push the button on the end of the left stalk =

 

[WildRide47]

I have had similar problems, in addition to finding that I have to take my eyes off the road to look at the left touch screen in order to change the wiper setting (too many buttons, in too small a space, with zero tactile input on what you are pressing). I believe that a better UX design for that space (given that we aren't going to get a physical control) would be to make the 5 button space into one "slider", moving from "off" to "auto" to "slow... faster... fastest". This lessens the need to get a finger jab exactly right to change the setting, as well as addressing the auto/intermittent/speed request.

Excellent idea.

Now if Lucid would implement it, that would be great.

It would also be nice if a Lucid representative would comment on this, as I also find it dangerous taking my eyes off the road to attempt to get the wipers to work correctly., and then being disappointed that the intermittent wipe is ineffective.

 

[Cosmo Cruz]

Again, I have to say, the engineer who invented the variable speed wiper had to fight Big Auto to get paid. They just stole it.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Kearns

Engineers who live in California, and Arizona .... see no need for a variable speed wiper.

 

[borski]

Excellent idea.

Now if Lucid would implement it, that would be great.

It would also be nice if a Lucid representative would comment on this, as I also find it dangerous taking my eyes off the road to attempt to get the wipers to work correctly., and then being disappointed that the intermittent wipe is ineffective.

Just as a reminder: this is a forum of owners and enthusiasts. There are a couple of people who work at Lucid who lurk here and try to help out, but it isn’t their full time job and this isn’t the best way to contact them or get a response.

To ensure a response, make sure to send your concerns to customer care, who can log it appropriately.

 

[joec]

The best wiper UX would be no wiper UX. “Automatic” mode would just work all the time, and you’d never have to think about it.

Lucid clearly figured Auto would be good enough for 99% of drivers, and thus just added the other buttons to satisfy that last percent.

Unfortunately, Auto didn’t work out as planned. They can still easily improve it with updates, at least. And they likely will. So with any luck, we’ll all eventually need to adjust wipers infrequently.

The issue with Auto, though, even if it did detect water flawlessly, is that everyone has their own idea of what the “perfect” wiper speed is. So some degree of fiddling is inevitable.

Would they have been better off with physical controls on a stalk? No doubt. But at least the screen buttons are always visible and always in the same place. More than I can say about another EV maker who thought “Auto” was all you’d ever need.

I don’t think a slider would be much better, as I’d still have to figure out where the slider was, and then endlessly try to swipe with only one hand on the wheel until I found that “perfect” speed.

We’ve all seen how on-screen sliders work for volume control on cars. Terrible, for the most part.

I think instead of the 2 manual speed buttons, there should be just speed increase and speed decrease buttons. Tap one multiple times to increase or decrease. Or hold down to do the same. And have at least 5 or 6 speeds instead of 2. Leave the two auto buttons as is.

 

[Darax]

Lucid is made in California, not Washington. They only get to test real rain a few times a year. Makes me wonder if the folks who say 'it is fine' are in dry climates and the folks who are complaining are in wetter areas.

If you search this forum you'll find a number of complaints about rain sensor sensitivity, and a number of responses saying it works just fine. I'm in the latter camp. Perhaps you can contact customer service and ask what you or they can do to improve your experience.

 

[joec]

Lucid is made in California, not Washington. They only get to test real rain a few times a year. Makes me wonder if the folks who say 'it is fine' are in dry climates and the folks who are complaining are in wetter areas.

Auto wipers is one of those ideas that sounds great on paper, but always ends up sucking in implementation. There’s no one speed that will make everyone happy for any given condition. So you end up with a speed that’s too fast for some, too slow for others.

Even if they did a better job of detecting moisture in the first place, we’d all still want to fiddle with the speed.

Lucid is much better off just giving us more manual speeds.

 

[WildRide47]

Lucid is made in California, not Washington. They only get to test real rain a few times a year. Makes me wonder if the folks who say 'it is fine' are in dry climates and the folks who are complaining are in wetter areas.

I contacted customer care and they said they have other complaints about this, but that there is no fix at this time.

I prefer having the wiper on the stalk where it belongs, but I do like Joec's suggestion for speed increase and speed decrease buttons. That would help immensely as I find I am frustrated every time it rains, the wiper speed cannot be adjusted correctly, and I am constantly having to use the 1 wipe button on the stalk.

 

[Instinctive]

I contacted customer care and they said they have other complaints about this, but that there is no fix at this time.

I prefer having the wiper on the stalk where it belongs, but I do like Joec's suggestion for speed increase and speed decrease buttons. That would help immensely as I find I am frustrated every time it rains, the wiper speed cannot be adjusted correctly, and I am constantly having to use the 1 wipe button on the stalk.

I would think it's 2023 (almost 2024) and a cool way to do it would be for my auto low and auto high settings to learn from me pushing the stalk button and adjust to that level of water/that frequency and remember it.

The speed up/slow down would be an even simpler way of doing that, and it could just remember the last frequency I had it at.

Lots of options. It's been quite rainy in Dallas recently and I have definitely noticed that auto low, for example, will not wipe for so long that you literally can't see, and then suddenly it'll be flying at like the nonstop fastest setting on a traditional car for 5 wipes, and then it'll be way too slow again...very odd.

 

[segbrk]

The automatic wipers in my Mercedes have always been great. The stalk has a range of settings as usual, it just controls the baseline. I always leave it on the lowest "on" setting unless it's raining, which means it'll automatically activate and run at any speed as needed. That's enough to cover light rain or spray from other cars, and I can turn it up when necessary. I was super impressed one time, I caught a huge splash from a car next to me going through a puddle. I couldn't see a thing through the wave that landed on my car. The wipers automatically turned all the way up and cleared my windshield before I could react.

Anyway, for Lucid's current automatic wipers I'm in the "it's okay" camp. I leave it on auto low almost all the time as well and 99% of the time it's completely fine, though I do wish it were variable rate (or more aggressive, if it is variable.) I'm not in the rainiest place, but it comes down pretty heavily sometimes and my visibility problem is still always the damn non-reflective lines on the road, not my windshield. The Lucid does have more false positives though, I actually had to turn the wipers off once because they really wanted to scrape dust back and forth across my dry windshield.

 

[hmp10]

I have never owned a car with automatic windshield wipers that worked well. Our three current cars (2018 Honda, 2021 Tesla, 2022 Lucid) all suck at it, with the Honda being the worst. It will let rain build up until vision is almost completely blocked, then start wiping furiously until long after the windshield has cleared, before going back to its corner to catch its breath for 3-5 minutes before springing back into frenzied action.

Due to the steep slope of the Lucid's windshield, I find it stays relatively clear even in moderately heavy rain. I treat it with Rain X and usually find that just occasionally hitting the pulse button on the turn signal stalk is all that is needed for driving in most rains.

I don't like leaving the auto setting engaged, because upon starting the car the system will sometimes swipe the glass once even when the windshield is dry. Not only does it smear the glass, but If any dust or dirt has accumulated on it there could be light scratching.

 

[joec]

I have never owned a car with automatic windshield wipers that worked well. Our three current cars (2018 Honda, 2021 Tesla, 2022 Lucid) all suck at it, with the Honda being the worst. It will let rain build up until vision is almost completely blocked, then start wiping furiously until long after the windshield has cleared, before going back to its corner to catch its breath for 3-5 minutes before springing back into frenzied action.

Due to the steep slope of the Lucid's windshield, I find it stays relatively clear even in moderately heavy rain. I treat it with Rain X and usually find that just occasionally hitting the pulse button on the turn signal stalk is all that is needed for driving in most rains.

I don't like leaving the auto setting engaged, because upon starting the car the system will sometimes swipe the glass once even when the windshield is dry. Not only does it smea the glass, but If any dust or dirt has accumulated on it there could be light scratching.

I keep my wipers off most of the time, too. Mainly because I kept forgetting to turn them off while washing. Every time I attempted to dry my windshield, the wipers would go off and get caught under my drying cloth. Huge pain.

Like so many things in life, wipers are one of those things I’m perfectly happy to control on my own. This whole obsession with “auto” everything is bizarre to me. When did we all get that lazy?

 

[hmp10]

Haven't read the string of post but does everyone know that the variable speed wiper was invented by an engineer who had to fight the industry to pay him for his invention?

Windshield wipers are apparently an inventor's nightmare.

The original patent for windshield wipers was granted in 1903 to Mary Anderson, an intrepid American entrepreneur. She tried to sell her patent but found no takers, as people argued that the hand-operated wiper she invented was a dangerous distraction to the driver. Then, when her patent expired in 1920, wipers suddenly started showing up on cars, with Cadillac being the first to make them standard equipment.

 

[idiot900]

I have never owned a car with automatic windshield wipers that worked well. Our three current cars (2018 Honda, 2021 Tesla, 2022 Lucid) all suck at it, with the Honda being the worst.

My old 2015 E-class did auto wipers perfectly. Every single time I thought, hmm, I'd like the wipers to be on, within a few seconds the car had the same thought of its own accord and turned the wipers on.

Then the windshield cracked after a rock chip, and even though I had the replacement/sensor calibration done by the dealer at exorbitant cost, the auto wipers worked just OK but not as well. Roughly as well as my Lucid today. I was spoiled apparently.

 

[idiot900]

Like so many things in life, wipers are one of those things I’m perfectly happy to control on my own. This whole obsession with “auto” everything is bizarre to me. When did we all get that lazy?

For me, when I entered the market for a luxury car. It's a personal preference, but I feel that things a machine can do, should be. This goes for everything from meaningless bureaucratic processes in the workplace to auto wipers and headlights. I'd rather spend my mental effort doing human stuff.

 

[hmp10]

My old 2015 E-class did auto wipers perfectly. Every single time I thought, hmm, I'd like the wipers to be on, within a few seconds the car had the same thought of its own accord and turned the wipers on.

Then the windshield cracked after a rock chip, and even though I had the replacement/sensor calibration done by the dealer at exorbitant cost, the auto wipers worked just OK but not as well. Roughly as well as my Lucid today. I was spoiled apparently.

I'm trying to remember more about how the automatic wipers worked in the German cars I've owned. (My last MB was a 2004 SL55 AMG, and my last Audi was a 2011 R8.) Mostly what I remember is that I usually avoided engaging the automatic function because I would forget to turn it off, and the wipers would give one swipe to a dry windshield upon the next startup. It seemed to have something to do with reseating the wipers into the "parked" position. I'm compulsive about cleaning the windshield almost every time I leave home, and residue on the wiper blades would smear even a clean windshield. It used to drive me crazy.

 

[sk8ndad]

I called service on this because to me its a safety issue. The way the interface is set up, if you don't use auto, if it starts raining, you have to manually set to the correct setting, you have to take your eyes off the road to find the little place on the display to push and hopefully push it. Now, this does not seem to be a smart thing to do as your driving in 5 lanes of stop and go traffic where the weather gods decided to dump on you. The auto function has to work or controls need to be migrated to something on the wheel you can find by touch.

 

[borski]

I called service on this because to me its a safety issue. The way the interface is set up, if you don't use auto, if it starts raining, you have to manually set to the correct setting, you have to take your eyes off the road to find the little place on the display to push and hopefully push it. Now, this does not seem to be a smart thing to do as your driving in 5 lanes of stop and go traffic where the weather gods decided to dump on you. The auto function has to work or controls need to be migrated to something on the wheel you can find by touch.

I mean this with all good energy: I hope you never have to drive a Model 3, lol. It took me three drives before I figured out how to turn the wipers on on that thing (hint: you need to hit the wiper stalk, but then you need to look at the screen in the next 1.5 seconds or so, so that you can select a setting, because then it disappears if you're too slow, and as far as I could find, there is no way to get back to that setting without hitting the wiper stalk again)

I agree, btw, that Lucid should fix the auto wipers; my high ones work great, but my low ones are too infrequent.

 

[hmp10]

I hope you never have to drive a Model 3, lol. It took me three drives before I figured out how to turn the wipers on on that thing . . . .

Similar with the updated Model S. You have to find the small black rotary wheel on the black steering yoke and then watch the screen while you rotate the wheel to the desired setting and push. If the car is moving, it can be quite tricky.

It's much simpler to just tap one of the always-present icons on the Lucid Glass Cockpit. And tapping the button at the end of the turn signal stalk to pulse the wipers couldn't be easier. (This was the Mercedes approach that was adopted by our older Model S -- which derived much of its switchgear from Mercedes -- and it worked beautifully. The "improved" approach in the updated Model S is anything but.)