New Tesla Cybertruck with 'switchblade' windshield wiper revealed

The Tesla Cybertruck is still in development.

The latest public debut of the long-awaited electric pickup displays a few changes since it was last seen.

The Cybertruck prototype, which has a stainless steel body, made an appearance at a presentation on Tuesday for PG&E's new Elkhorn Battery Energy Storage System site in Moss Landing, California, which employs Tesla Megapack batteries to store excess electricity generated by renewable sources.

The most noticeable alteration to the angular vehicle is a new windshield wiper design, which replaces the truck's previous unusually huge single wiper arm, which was on show at Tesla's Cyber Rodeo event in Austin, Texas, in April.

The new wiper is about half the size of the old one, and it doesn't appear to be able to clear much of the glass, which is unusually large, but a closer look exposes what it might be hiding.

Tesla has not confirmed or publicly shown the operation of the new design, which looks to be hinged in the middle like a switchblade knife with two independent wiper blades. Elon Musk, the CEO of Tesla, stated last year, "What bothers me the most is the wiper. There is no simple solution. A deployable wiper that stows in the front trunk would be great, but it would be difficult to implement."

The design of a windshield wiping system isn't prescribed in federal motor vehicle safety requirements, but it must clean a certain portion of the space in front of the driver and passenger.

The interior of the Cybertruck differs from the previous model, with an instrument cluster in front of the driver and a centre console in place of the central front sitting position, according to photos.

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The vehicle in California also had the yoke-style steering wheel that is now standard on the Model S and Model X, however the airbag unit had been removed.