---
title: "Tesla Wants to Replace Windshield Wipers With Lasers"
description: "Tesla patented a system that would replace good old fashioned windshield wipers with actual laser beams that zap away debris."
date: "2019-11-26"
modified: "2019-11-26"
authors:
  - name: "Dan Robitzski"
    link: "https://futurism.com/authors/danrobitzski"
url: "https://futurism.com/the-byte/tesla-replace-windshield-wipers-lasers"
categories:
  - "Advanced Transport"
  - "Tesla"
tags:
  - "lasers"
  - "solar"
  - "tesla"
  - "the digest"
  - "transport"
---

# Tesla Wants to Replace Windshield Wipers With Lasers

![Tesla patented a system that would replace good old fashioned windshield wipers with actual laser beams that zap away debris.](<https://futurism.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/11/tesla-replace-windshield-wipers-lasers.jpg>)
*\<em\>Image: Maurizio Pesce/Victor Tangermann\</em\>*

## Why Not

Apparently, the classic windshield wipers that have been brushing rain and crud off cars for over a century aren't futuristic enough for Tesla. No, the electric car and [Nintendo 64-looking truck-maker](<https://futurism.com/the-byte/reactions-tesla-cybertruck>) would rather use lasers.

The company has developed a laser system for clearing debris off a glass panel or photovoltaic cell. Whether or not Tesla ever uses it commercially, the patent for the laser wipers went public earlier this week, [according to *Electrek*](<https://electrek.co/2019/11/25/tesla-laser-beams-clean-debris-off-cars/>)*.* Finally, we're in the future — and the future is gratuitous lasers.

## Overkill

The patent describes a laser — mounted right where a normal windshield wiper would be — to target and zap away debris from a car's windshield or solar panels. That last one makes more sense — panels on top of a house can't generate electricity if they're covered in leaves and branches, but going up and clearing them off is [hazardous](<https://www.wired.com/2017/05/rooftop-solar-panels-great-planet-terrible-firefighters/>).

But the patent, *Electrek* reports, focuses far more on the car system. What remains unclear is whether Tesla considered eye safety when it decided to aim lasers directly where drivers are looking.

**READ MORE:** [Tesla wants to use laser beams to automatically clean debris off cars – Yes really](<https://electrek.co/2019/11/25/tesla-laser-beams-clean-debris-off-cars/>) \[*Electrek*\]

**More on Tesla:** *[Conspiracy Theory: Tesla Smashed Cybertruck Window on Purpose](<https://futurism.com/conspiracy-theory-tesla-smashed-cybertruck-window>)*

## Author
Dan Robitzki is a senior reporter for Futurism, where he likes to cover AI, tech ethics, and medicine. He spends his extra time fencing and streaming games from Los Angeles, California.

### Author social links  
[Twitter](<https://x.com/danrobitzski>)