DRL - tail light

[Kim.T]

My wife has a big issue with our 70D : The tail lights are not on by default. Only front DRL. And it is not possible to save the setting with light always on in the driver profile. She is often driving late night/early morning and she sees A LOT of cars with tail lights off (cheap models without light sensors where the driver forgets to turn the light on).
The light sensor in the model S is pretty good, and it seems that the light are automatic turn on the the wipers are activated. But still - when driving in the morning with fog she has seen several times where the tail lights are not turn on because there is enough light, but still the visibility can be 0meter due to fog.
Why can't Tesla make it possible to save the light setting in the driver profil, or include the tail light in the DRL setting. I don't think that the tail lights consumes that much energy on a Tesla!

PS I'm from EU. In Denmark from 1990 cars where required to drive with light turned on - including tail lights. In 2011 we adapted EU laws saying that only front DRL was reqired. EU soon found out that people forgot to turn on light in the dark, therefor from '16 all new cars must have a light censor. To me this was a BIG mistake not, at the same time, require tail light on all the time !

 

[SabrToothSqrl]

That's interesting... I was always for the light sensor because people are too stupid to use lights during low light times...

 

[Cyclone]

I think there is some confusion here. The sensor on the Model S will activate the tail lights when it senses there isn't enough light and thus, it activates the full headlight and taillight setup. This also occurs when the rain sensor activates the wipes - headlights and taillights are turned on. What the Op's wife is experiencing is that the sensor seems there is enough light so that it doesn't activate the lights. Thus, only the DRLs are activate and nothing else. While I agree it would be nice to be able to configure this so you can have taillights tied to the DRLs, I presume Tesla hasn't though of this because driving in fog is not globally common. Now, given regulations in Denmark to include always-on taillights in 2016s just like the DRLs are always-on, I'd suggest contacting Tesla (maybe even Elon via Twitter) so that this can be considered for a future update. At the least, you should have the option of making the "default" behavior of Auto to have the taillights on (maybe via a checkbox) at least in Denmark (though this could be useful globally).

 

[hileyms]

In the UK, DRL is ONLY front lights. I asked about this a few years ago on a new Peuguot I had purchased as to why the rear tail lighrs were not lite at the same time and was told it was only the fronts.

Wikipedia has the following write up

A daytime running lamp (DRL, also daytime running light) is an automotive lighting and bicycle lighting device on the front of a roadgoing motor vehicle or bicycle,[SUP][1][/SUP] automatically switched on when the vehicle is moving forward, emitting white, yellow, or amber light to increase the conspicuity of the vehicle during daylight conditions.

 

[Khatsalano]

Yup, I had this complaint too. I now just manually turn on the "Parking Lights" every time I start up the car. It activates the lower front light tubes as well as the rear "DRLs." I'm told in California, it's illegal to drive with parking lights on only, but because the way the Tesla is configured, we don't have orange parking lights that look like parking lights. To me, they look like a DRL configuration.

Bottom line, yes, I would love to see the "DRL" button also illuminate the lower front light tubes and rear tail lights.

- K

 

[Kim.T]

Considering that Tesla is one of the most secure cars you can buy, it would be nice if this security would include tail light - because fog in daylight (early morning) does not always activate the light sensor. And this is a big security issue.
I don't have a twitter account, and I don't know other ways to contact Tesla, but you are right - this issue should be mentioned to Elon - he is over and over telling us how safe the car is. I don't know if the local Tesla serviceCenter can bring this request high enough to get the right attention.

And I have heard that fog should be very common in the bay area ;-)

 

[artsci]

Considering that Tesla is one of the most secure cars you can buy, it would be nice if this security would include tail light - because fog in daylight (early morning) does not always activate the light sensor. And this is a big security issue.
I don't have a twitter account, and I don't know other ways to contact Tesla, but you are right - this issue should be mentioned to Elon - he is over and over telling us how safe the car is. I don't know if the local Tesla serviceCenter can bring this request high enough to get the right attention.

And I have heard that fog should be very common in the bay area ;-)

Remember, you can use the touchscreen to turn on the lights. Manual control is also a safety feature that we often forget about

 

[jerry33]

Considering that Tesla is one of the most secure cars you can buy, it would be nice if this security would include tail light - because fog in daylight (early morning) does not always activate the light sensor. And this is a big security issue.
I don't have a twitter account, and I don't know other ways to contact Tesla, but you are right - this issue should be mentioned to Elon - he is over and over telling us how safe the car is. I don't know if the local Tesla serviceCenter can bring this request high enough to get the right attention.

And I have heard that fog should be very common in the bay area ;-)

At least for DRLs they are limited by the regulations. Just as five point safety harnesses are safer than airbags, they are not allowed because the regulators only want airbags.

 

[thegruf]

This is not a Tesla specific issue.
Most cars with auto lights behave like this and "morning fog" does not trigger the lights coming on, so they must be switched on by the driver manually (as Artsci states above).
The only way around this would be to have a "fog" detector - I read a tech article somewhere that MB were researching exactly this, no idea if it is implemented in the latest S class though.

The reason only the front DRLs are required to be on all the time, is that in daylight conditions having the rear tail lights on can reduce the visual impact of the brake lights which can result in greater rear end collisions.

 

[jcaspar]

I guess I don't get it. Can't she just turn on the headlights?

 

[Khatsalano]

Remember, you can use the touchscreen to turn on the lights. Manual control is also a safety feature that we often forget about

I heard manual control got patched out by 7.0 along with the old UI ...

 

[mknox]

I heard manual control got patched out by 7.0 along with the old UI ...

The manual headlight control is still there in v7, although the manual DRL over-ride has never been there in jurisdictions (like Canada) where DRLs are mandatory. My understanding is that DRLs can consist of a separate lamp, headlights on low beam, headlights on high beam at reduced voltage or by a turn signal lamp on the high. If low beam headlights are employed, the car must have a sensor for full lighting system at dusk or run the complete lighting system all the time. I personally am a big supporter of DRLs but don't want or need my full lighting system on during the day. For those who do, just turn on the headlights.

 

[artsci]

I heard manual control got patched out by 7.0 along with the old UI ...

Not so. Still works for me.

 

[Andyw2100]

I heard manual control got patched out by 7.0 along with the old UI ...

The manual headlight control is still there in v7,

Not so. Still works for me.

Two of you? Really?

One person not understanding that Khatsalano was making a funny I could possibly understand but both of you? Did you swallow literal pills this morning or something?

 

[mknox]

Two of you? Really?

One person not understanding that Khatsalano was making a funny I could possibly understand but both of you? Did you swallow literal pills this morning or something?

I don't get it???

 

[Andyw2100]

I don't get it???

Khatsalano was joking when he wrote: "I heard manual control got patched out by 7.0 along with the old UI ..."

Both you and then artsci responded as if he was serious, and said that you still had manual control, missing the joke.

No big deal!