Brutal snowy conditions can test even the most-rugged SUVs on the road, with chunks of ice freezing around windshield wipers making for huge winter headaches.

But Ford has pinpointed a way to equip its drivers to better handle crossing the frozen tundra. Late last week, the automaker announced that its 2017 Escape SUV will be available with a built-in windshield wiper de-icer, which melts snow and ice from the vehicle's windshield wipers in under 10 minutes at a tested minus 18 degrees Fahrenheit. The built-in windshield de-icer comes as part of the automaker's Cold Weather Package.

Taking it a step further, Escape owners can activate their windshield wiper de-icer system from their smartphones, using Sync Connect and the FordPass experience. The same Sync Connect allows owners to start, lock and unlock their vehicles remotely. Say you're at a friend's house and know you have to get going on the road soon in frigid, snowy conditions. Well, the Sync Connect feature will allow you to schedule a specific time to start the de-icer and even warm up the vehicle, so it's all ready and free of snow and ice, when it's time to drive.

"The windshield wiper de-icer is a great solution to one of the more nagging problems of winter," Jennifer Gauthier, Ford fixed glass engineer, said in the company's press release. "Escape drivers in the U.S. are going to wonder how they ever got along without it."

Ford says its built-in de-icer works like traditional rear-window defrost systems in the sense that the base of the windshield — where the wiper blades rest — are equipped with a local heating element. Ford's system is designed to make light snow and ice from the wiper blades quick history, still working at temperatures as low as -18 degrees Fahrenheit, as the tested by the automaker.

The 2017 Escape's Cold Weather Package also includes all-weather floor mats, heated seats and side mirrors and a supplemental powertrain conditioning heater.

Ford also expects its windshield wiper de-icer to be made available to other vehicles in its lineup across the U.S. The introduction of this feature begs for the question: How long will it be before every automaker offers a built-in winshield wiper de-icer?