Tesla’s user interface can sometimes feel lacking, partially due to the sparse physical controls in the car. The company vastly improved on this in the 2023.12(opens in a new tab) update this April, allowing users to customize the left scroll wheel on the steering wheel with various functions, such as acceleration mode, fan speed, or climate temperature.
One thing was inexplicably missing from the scroll wheel customization menu, though: windshield wiper controls, which you had to activate from the stalk instead.
Now, in the new, 2032.20 update (via Not a Tesla app(opens in a new tab)), you can open the windshield wiper menu and set the wiper speed only with a long press on the scroll wheel. To do so, go to the car’s settings, open Display, then Scroll Wheel Function, and activate the Wiper Speed setting. Then, you can control the wipers with a long press on the left scroll wheel.
While this may make life a little easier for those who often drive in rainy conditions, another important update to the way wipers work in Teslas may be coming soon. In June, Tesla CEO Elon Musk tweeted(opens in a new tab) that “actually smart auto wiper software releases in about 3 weeks,” meaning it may have even been released with this latest update.
Tesla’s automatic wiper software was so far quite crappy. In my experience, my Model 3 was often unable to set the appropriate wiper speed, while on the other hand the wipers would sometimes start when there was no rain at all. Any update on that front would be very welcome, but it’s tough to say whether the new, improved system has gone live until we have more time to test it (or until Musk confirms it).
