McLaren Could Replace Windshield Wipers With A Sound-Based Force Field
For its next trick, it may get rid of the windshield wiper.
That's according to an interview a designer gave to the UK's Sunday Times.
It seems McLaren is working on a system, adapted from fighter jets, that will use high-frequency sound waves to create a kind of force field that will keep water, as well as insects and other debris, off the windshield.
Getting rid of that chunk of plastic would improve the car's aerodynamics - lowering drag and making it more fuel efficient.
In an email, a McLaren spokesperson said the concept "is just an idea at this stage with no confirmed date of introduction."
If the automaker did want to bring it to market, however, it would have to deal with the fact that windshield wipers are required in the U.S. by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA).
Getting an exemption from the rule isn't out of the question. NHTSA allows Terrafugia, the flying car company, to use a different kind of windshield than the one required on most cars, to handle the threat of bird strikes in the air.