[jsmay311]

For any Bolt EV owners with the rearview mirror camera, I'm wondering how the real-world experience has been in regards to the camera to getting dirty, especially for anyone driving in dusty or salty areas?

-Does the camera get dirty as quickly as the Volt's rear camera? (For the Volt it's especially bad in winter driving w/ salty roads.)
-How well does the camera's washer spray work? Does it clean the lens well?
-Does the fluid distort the camera view for awhile after the spray has stopped (while there's still some fluid on the lens)? Or does the view clear up quickly?
-Has anyone tried using the spray in sub-freezing temps? Does the fluid freeze on the lens?

Also... I've already read several reports that the rear camera mirror is not very effective at night. But I'm wondering if adjusting the screen brightness helps at all with this?

Thanks!

 

[phil0909]

I have not seen any dirt in my first 1,000 miles driving thru southern California. It is a desert, but perhaps less dusty/salty than you are interested in. It does get blurry from rain, and the washer spray has worked great. I don't know of a brightness adjustment, but I think it works ok at night - you mostly see headlights rather than the actual cars, much like a real mirror at night.

 

[SharkVolt]

I really like it. It takes a little getting used to, because you have to focus your eyes to the distance the picture is from your eyes, rather than the actual distance the cars are behind you.

The best thing is that it actually makes the display slightly brighter than the actual view behind you, so at dusk the cars are actually easier to see, which my old eyes appreciate.

And, you get a 120 degree field of view, which shows all the cars that are in your blind spot in adjacent lanes, which is very, very nice. That, combined with the little alert leds in the rear view mirrors for cars on your blind spots, and the audio alert for cars or pedestrians approaching from the sides make me feel much safer than before.

And, the washer cleans both rear cameras well from any dust or dirt on the lenses. Not sure about freezing weather though.

 

[jeff_h]

And, the washer cleans both rear cameras well from any dust or dirt on the lenses. Not sure about freezing weather though.

That's good to know. I showed this feature to my wife on the evening that we got the car and while it was still grubby from being on the hauler and was still raining. I flipped it over to the camera view and since the lens must have been wet and dirty the view was murky and lighting from cars behind us looked strange, kinda like the graveyard scene in Disney's Haunted Mansion. So we quickly switched it back to what we were used to seeing as that is just fine as long as there are not tall people or rear luggage blocking the rear view, and decided to give it a try another time.

 

[scrambler]

I was thinking of installing that Gentex Hybrid Full Display Mirror on the Volt.

The aftermarket version is coming in the spring, but apparently VOXX will have exclusive distribution, and so the price will be high, close to $1,000.

At that price, I am not so sure anymore

 

[Devokan]

I was thinking of installing that Gentex Hybrid Full Display Mirror on the Volt.

Keep in mind that, from what I am reading and contrary to the Bolt EV, there won't be no lens cleaning system integration. So won't be long that in some conditions, you will lose visibility quite fast.

 

[bro1999]

Pretty handy. I pretty much have it exclusively set to rear view camera mode, unless I'm on some very dark road.

I thought at first the rear view camera would be useless at night, but it's actually not bad at all on fairly lit roadways. If you're on some pitch dark street though, it'll be fairly useless (except you can see clearly when your brake lights come on slowing in L!)

The resolution is also much better than the "regular" backup cam camera.