The 2024 Hyundai Ioniq 5 has loads going for it. It’s comfortable, has loads of house, it seems to be cool, it’s fairly environment friendly, it has as much as 303 miles of vary and when you ask round, it’s decently priced. What it doesn’t have, nevertheless, is a rear window wiper.
With a hatchback-like physique, it’s solely a matter of time earlier than the rear window will get coated when it’s raining. However whereas which may not be such an enormous deal, it will get worse when it’s snowing and you’ll’t see something behind.
Hyundai added a rear wiper on the 2025 Ioniq 5, however that also leaves tens of hundreds of older Ioniq 5s with no wiper–each in the USA and abroad. Nonetheless, a somewhat intelligent repair is within the works.
It’s known as the GeckoWiper and it’s merely a detachable, battery-powered rear wiper that may be activated through a magnetic distant management. Developed in Switzerland by an impartial tinkerer from Tigs Design & Engineering GmbH, the venture is being funded by way of Kickstarter however with 29 days left till the funding interval ends, the GeckoWiper has already satisfied folks to pledge over $45,000–$34,000 greater than the objective.
The detachable wiper attaches to the rear window with a suction cup and, as an added layer of safety, a magnet retains it in place from the within. The built-in rechargeable battery can final for about six months on standby, which is loads, and when it runs dry, the proprietor can simply take off the wiper and plug in a USB Sort-C cable to high it off.
The venture kicked off in 2022 and the primary prototypes have been made a yr later. The Kickstarter marketing campaign, which is able to finish in November, goals to convey the product to mass manufacturing, with the primary deliveries slated for February of subsequent yr.
Regardless that the GeckoWiper is marketed as an answer for the Hyundai Ioniq 5, it is also fitted to different wiper-less vehicles such because the Tesla Mannequin Y and Mannequin 3, Polestar 2, Kia EV6 and Genesis GV60. The developer mentioned that model-specific variations of the GeckoWiper are within the works, with specifics just like the arm and blade measurement, compression power, wiping angle and finish stops needing fine-tuning for every automobile.
Pricing begins at roughly $500 with worldwide transport out there, however if you wish to get in on the motion, there’s nonetheless a proposal with 20% off on Kickstarter, which comes out at about $435.