Early Access riders of the Tesla Robotaxi tried to fetch as much information from the test rides as they could. Interestingly, some new features were clearly visible as these beta rides progressed.
The Early Access rides on 22nd June launch day commenced on a rainy day, and some of them in the late evening hours. This made the use of the windshield wipers necessary.
Interestingly, one of the Early Access riders noticed that the Robotaxi windshield wipers were acting differently. As the wipers reached the center of the windshield, they wiped multiple times in a shorter area in front of the cameras.
In a Tesla vehicle, three forward-looking Autopilot/FSD cameras are installed just behind the rearview mirror. These cameras are covered and protected by the windshield.
These forward cameras are the most critical when it comes to the vision ahead of a Tesla vehicle. If these cameras are occluded for any reason, such as rain, snow, dust, stains, and debris etc., the vehicle’s ability to look forward becomes limited.
To clear the visual obstacles from the front cameras, Tesla changed the windshield wiper mechanism in Robotaxi mode (video below). After the launch event on 22nd June, Tesla revealed that the Robotaxi vehicles are using a special version of Tesla Full Self-Driving (FSD) software, which is not currently rolled out for non-employee Tesla car owners.
The Robotaxi FSD version has this special wiper function that focuses on cleaning cameras with additional wipes.
The best thing about Tesla vehicles is that they have great flexibility in various functionalities of the vehicle. For example, being able to control or change the wiper mechanism via an over-the-air (OTA) software update is an edge over traditional automakers with fixed mechanisms.
Tesla patented a method of laser cleaning of the winshield debris in 2021, but this technology isn’t integrated in Tesla vehicles yet.
However, Tesla successfully added a self-washing and cleaning system for the Cybertruck front bumper camera. To complement additional video data and vision of FSD, new Tesla vehicles like the Cybertruck and the new Model Y Juniper both have bumper cameras.
Tesla mentioned “Improved camera cleaning and handling of camera occlusions” as an upcoming enhancement in the software update version 13.2.6 release notes earlier this year. However, there has been no significant update in this regard since February.
After looking at the video (below), Tesla FSD users are asking the automaker to enable this Robotaxi wiper mode in their vehicles as well. All it would take is just a free OTA software update.
— Tesla Robotaxi (@robotaxi) June 23, 2025
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