[dtgsrq]

Anyone else notice a slight 'starry' or hazy effect to lights viewed through the I-Pace windshield at night? Believe it or not tonight (Day 18 of ownership) was my first extended period driving at night. Windshield was *super* clean (Eco Green Auto Clean) and this was NOT a side effect of my eyesight. I have the heated windshield (so useful for those frosty Florida nights:grin2, not an option I would have purposefully chosen but accepted a 98% match FE when my ordered build arrived incorrect. So for any of you owners with the heated windshield, do you also notice the very fine 'hairlike' wiring in the windshield seems to produce an ever-so slight haze on nighttime bright lights (brake lights, headlights, streetlights, etc.)?

 

[McRat]

No, I haven't seen that. What I did notice was a vertical line of non-defrosted area 1/2" wide down the center of the windshield. I assume that is a limitation of the design.

 

[epirali]

I haven’t driven at night but I can see it even during day creating a pattern/reduction in clarity, and specially in the HUD display (text looks fuzzy). It was so disturbing that I special ordered a non FE without the heater. But most people seem to not see them, or it doesn’t bother them, or like the functionality.

I asked about replacing with a non heated windshield but apparently that will cause errors and potential issues from the computer.

 

[McRat]

Great. Now that it was mentioned, I do see the wires. BAH!

 

[epirali]

“There are not the wires you are looking for....”

Seriously putting it out if your mind and you’ll stop noticing, if it didn’t bother you before it really won’t once you stop looking for it. I’m a weird case in that even windshield glass quality in cars is noticeable to me.

 

[PGhiron]

YES, I absolutely notice it. Sometimes in certain conditions and street lights it is more annoying than other times. It seems streets, or light from above makes it the most noticeable. Like you I wouldn't have picked it, if I had known, but it came with the FE.

 

[dtgsrq]

Had I seen this blog post I might have saved myself much headache - now my wife refuses to drive it at night.
Lesson learned: ALWAYS take a test drive AT NIGHT. (but who does this???)



https://www.autoblog.com/2017/09/29/2018-jaguar-f-pace-heated-windshield-option-may-drive-you-crazy/

 

[phila]

It took me a while to even notice that I had windshield heating, as I didnt configure my car and just went to the dealership and got what they had. These squiggly heat lines havent bothered me in any driving conditions or light and my wife has never mentioned anything either.

 

[McRat]

I did do my check ride at night (wasn't supposed to, but did) and didn't see the lines.

I focus very far way. So much like a dashcam, the wires don't show. But after I went to actively look for them, then I focused up close, and voila, I saw something I would not have intentionally ordered.

But there's a story here, and some clever engineering for the US (perhaps other markets too).

The FMVSS (Federal equipment safety regs) now requires the windshield be clear in X minutes when fogged up and cold. This is a problem for EVs. To defrost a window on the inside, you need dry air. That is air conditioned air. And you need heat to dissolve the water. So with an EV that has just a AC unit, you need to have a resistance heater and blower to warm the AC air that defogs your windshield. This is a big waste of energy. The I-Pace has a Heat Pump IIRC, which can either create cold dry air, or warm air but not both. Other EVs with heat pumps use a resistive heater and the heat pump to defog. But the I-Pace can use less power to do the same job by just heating the glass itself, which negates the need for dry air. The Heat Pump is now allowed to heat your cabin if you wish (and it is efficient at it) and the resistive glass heater uses far less power than an electric cabin heater.

So those little wires allow your car get warm quicker and use less power to do it. A byproduct is the cabin heater is more efficient also when defrosting/defogging is not an issue.

 

[epirali]

I did do my check ride at night (wasn't supposed to, but did) and didn't see the lines.
So those little wires allow your car get warm quicker and use less power to do it. A byproduct is the cabin heater is more efficient also when defrosting is not an issue.

This is a good point for an EV, but considering one of my many complains about RR was the inclusion of the exact same "feature" by default in some of their cars (ICE) I think its one of those corporate decisions pre-EV that just happens to be beneficial for the I-Pace (not a volitional design choice).

When I looked at the RR Sport for wife besides rejecting it for many other reasons we had the EXACT same discussion about deleting the heated windshield or replacing with non heated and was told the same as with the I-Pace, no can do. And this was 4 years ago.

 

[McRat]

This is a good point for an EV, but considering one of my many complains about RR was the inclusion of the exact same "feature" by default in some of their cars (ICE) I think its one of those corporate decisions pre-EV that just happens to be beneficial for the I-Pace (not a volitional design choice).

When I looked at the RR Sport for wife besides rejecting it for many other reasons we had the EXACT same discussion about deleting the heated windshield or replacing with non heated and was told the same as with the I-Pace, no can do. And this was 4 years ago.

Because of the FMVSS defogging reg, it might be because without the wires, you need a different defogging system even with an ICE. And that apparently is an "either/or" system.

While the wires freak me out when I look for them, that's really an indicator I'm driving badly. They vanish when you look at the correct distance, about 1/8+ mile down the road. I normally scan so far away that the car in front of me is a blur, that is outside my 3° cone of high resolution. This has saved me numerous times in situations such as road debris, radar traps, people running red lights, etc. In these situations, if you first see the threat at 100', you are not going to be happy.

 

[CyberSlug]

I noticed this on the way home last night after picking up the car. I don't have a way to compare (hard to see what another person sees without your eyes distorting things differently than their's), but I wonder if the starburst pattern is worse because I had vision correction done a decade ago (still the best money I've ever spent, even with the annoyance of starburst a halos around certain wavelengths of light).

 

[jsimon7777]

I have not noticed a problem with the windshield at night. Every once in a while, during the day, it looks like there's an odd pattern of dust on the windshield, but that's not enough for me to reject the feature.

 

[McRat]

I noticed this on the way home last night after picking up the car. I don't have a way to compare (hard to see what another person sees without your eyes distorting things differently than their's), but I wonder if the starburst pattern is worse because I had vision correction done a decade ago (still the best money I've ever spent, even with the annoyance of starburst a halos around certain wavelengths of light).

My wife had laser correction, and the 'starry' night vision for her applies to all cars. Hence why she drives a car with thermal imaging and directional headlights since many of our streets do not have street lights.

Seems anytime I'm driving fast, it disappears. So I just haul arse everywhere I go. >

 

[epirali]

Seems anytime I'm driving fast, it disappears. So I just haul arse everywhere I go. >

Well obviously if you go fast enough the speed of light shift factors come into play and make the wires less visible. A perfectly REASONABLE solution in my opinion...>

 

[Time2Roll]

In a mild climate I specifically avoided this option. I assume the defrost setting will work good enough if I visit the snow.

 

[jsimon7777]

In a mild climate I specifically avoided this option. I assume the defrost setting will work good enough if I visit the snow.

SoCal, a heated windshield is overkill. In our norcal winter, in a canyon, we sometimes get ice on the windshield when parked outside. I don't expect to park it outside much, but things happen, ya know?

In Hawaii, it got so humid during one rain that defrosting didn't do a thing to the windshield. A heater would have been nice.

 

[dtgsrq]

It seems VW has developed a very eloquent wire-less solution, one that 'warms the wipers' too!
https://www.volkswagen-newsroom.com...s-the-climate-windscreen-from-volkswagen-1213

 

[CyberSlug]

I don’t know how much the defroster on the i-Pace uses, but 500w (1/2 kw) seems high.

 

[sgtpeper]

I drove the car for the first time at night tonight and I do notice it - mostly when there is a car coming at me and my eyes have to focus because of the light.