I think a lot of us suspect that the front vent and rapid temp changes are causing a crack right there on the lower edge center. The number of anecdotes of that exact same situation you describe just seems quite high. Mercedes has that Magic Vision Control option, which includes the heated reservoir, nozzles and blades - something like that would certainly also help for a winter option, if they didn’t want to do a heated windshield.How about heated ‘rests’ for the windshield wipers so that they don’t ice over?
I cracked my windshield by turning the front defrost onto high fan and high heat- my go to move for keeping the wipers and the windshield ice free. SNAP- The air gets too hot frankly. My son noticed that, but I didn’t think that it would be hot enough to light off the windshield.