Patent Shows How Tesla May Bend Glass With Lasers To Make Cybertruck Windshield

One of the design cues that define Tesla’s look is a single piece of glass going from the windshield and extending across the roof of the vehicle. A new patent helps to show how Tesla may achieve that with the Cybertruck.

A patent titled “Automotive Glass Structure Having Feature Lines and Related Method of Manufacture” first noticed by Teslarati show how the company could form hard, origami-style lines into the glass that would fit the rest of the truck‘s aesthetic.

“An example method includes applying localized heat (e.g., via a laser, heating element) to a location of a substantially planar glass structure and bending the glass structure at that location (e.g., along a line of the planar glass structure) to form a feature line in the glass structure,” Tesla writes in its patent application.

That would allow the company to build angles into the glass with curves as small as 2mm, mirroring the hard angles in the Cybertruck’s bodywork, and working with the truck’s A-pillar to C-pillar transition.

If you’re wondering why Tesla doesn’t just use two sheets of glass, I don’t really have an answer for you, but the patent could also be useful in other places. The patent application explains how the technique could be used to create a dashboard. It also describes how the dash would have a “security film” in order to avoid it shattering in case of an accident.

“In some embodiments, a film or layer may be positioned below the glass dash 702. For example, the film or layer may be used to present a visual design and/or may be used to ensure the glass does not shatter (e.g., a safety or security film),” the patent writes.

Unfortunately, we’ll have to wait a little longer before we find out for sure if the company is, in fact, making its entire dashboard out of glass or if that was simply an example, as Tesla announced earlier this month that production of the truck would be delayed until at least 2022.