– Why can’t front windshields have the same defrosting method as rear windshields?

Question

The rear windshield defrosters seem so much more effective. Is it just the lines across the drivers field of view that makes it decidedly unsafe?

In: 17

Answer 1

In North America Ford had this option on the 1986+ model Taurus and Sables. It was called an Instaclear windshield and used a transparent wire mesh sandwiched between the two glass layers. It worked remarkably well and quickly defrosted the windshield. However it was a very expensive option and prone to failure due to the very thin structure of the wires. The reason for it’s failure to be widely used in cars wasn’t technical but financial. Interestingly the technology is much more widely used in European vehicles.