01/30/2024
Scraping ice and snow from frozen windshields represents a dreaded but necessary winter chore.
However, automakers increasingly offer vehicles with heated windshields that take the sting out of ice and snow removal. Unfortunately, those windshields come at a hefty price tag and seem limited to luxury vehicles.
Cars.com, on January 25, published a list of model-year 2023 and 2024 cars that offer heated windshields as standard equipment. The list includes high-end models from Bentley, Jaguar, Lamborghini, Porsche and Roll Royce.
For auto glass shops, heated windshields require careful handling of the connectors that feed electricity to the thin wires embedded in the glass.
The newer heated windshields carry thin wires from top to bottom embedded in the laminate. The electrically charged wires create resistance heat to warm the entire windshield surface, similar to the defroster lines in the backlites on many vehicles. The difference is that the back defroster heater wires reside on the interior surface of the backlite.
“As an installer, dealing with a heated windshield is only a matter of a wire lead with a connection,” says Jeff Olive, director of quality and safety at the Auto Glass Safety Council™. “The connections are mostly located under the cowl below the wipers or behind the interior A-pillar mouldings at each side of the windshield.”
According to Olive, auto glass technicians connect the wire to the plug under the vehicle’s cowl or interior A-pillar. “The key is to inspect the vehicle and the part before starting the replacement to be assured that you have the correct part,” he says.
“Many vehicles have the option of a heated windshield or a non-heated windshield,” Olive says. “If the vehicle is equipped with a heated windshield and a non-heated windshield is installed, it will not be evident until the next freeze.”
Below is the list of 2023 and 2024 model-year vehicles that have heated windshields as standard equipment, according to Cars.com. The 2023 list is complete, while the 2024 list includes only vehicles for which 2024 U.S. specs have been officially announced.
2023 Cars with Heated Windshields
Bentley: Bentayga, Bentayga Hybrid, Continental G.T., Flying Spur, Flying Spur Hybrid
Jaguar: E-Pace, F-Pace, F-Type, I-Pace, XF
Lamborghini: Urus
Land Rover: Defender, Discovery, Discovery Sport, Range Rover, Range Rover Evoque, Range Rover Sport, Range Rover Velar
Lexus: UX 250h
Mercedes-Benz, Mercedes-EQ: G-Class, EQE Sedan, EQE SUV, EQS Sedan, EQS SUV
Porsche: Cayenne, Cayenne E-Hybrid, Macan
Rolls-Royce: Cullinan, Ghost, Phantom
Volkswagen: ID.4
2024 Cars with Heated Windshields
Jaguar: E-Pace, F-Pace, F-Type, I-Pace, XF
Land Rover: Defender, Discovery, Discovery Sport, Range Rover, Range Rover Evoque, Range Rover Sport, Range Rover Velar
Lexus: UX 250h
Mercedes-EQ: EQE Sedan, EQE SUV, EQS Sedan, EQS SUV
Porsche: Cayenne, Cayenne E-Hybrid, Macan
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