Matrix Headlights Capabilities Enablement Timeline

[E90alex]

There are a few articles on the internet that exposed the issue. In short:

ROW (outside of US/Canada) follows SAE J3069 as their standard for Matrix LED lights.
NHTSA doesn't believe that is enough for the US market and is working on their own spec, following J3069, but with what they called added safety. They have a 327-page document that outlines the US spec...

The big problem is that manufactures built many of the Matrix LED lights using J3069, but they have yet to spend the money to build something that meets the new NHTSA spec (that we know of today).

This is the most recent articles that goes into some of the details, but I have yet to find a link to their 327 page NHTSA report and what the US specs are. I would suspect that it's not final yet otherwise we would have been some sort of comment from the manufactures.

However that being said, many (non Tesla cars) are being hacked to turn on the Euro standard for LED Matrix lights. You know when you see it in SoCal and NoCal becuase it's obvious when driving on a dark road, plus watch the status sequence (during light calibration) of cars that are parked facing a wall. It's pretty cool!

NHTSA roadblocking headlight technology that could save lives

Difficulties in certification and testing is leaving safer, smarter lights on the shelf

www.newsweek.com

Such pointless bureaucracy. The US should just adopt ECE Lightning standards. It would make everything easier for everyone.

 

[uscbucsfan]

There are a few articles on the internet that exposed the issue. In short:

ROW (outside of US/Canada) follows SAE J3069 as their standard for Matrix LED lights.
NHTSA doesn't believe that is enough for the US market and is working on their own spec, following J3069, but with what they called added safety. They have a 327-page document that outlines the US spec...

The big problem is that manufactures built many of the Matrix LED lights using J3069, but they have yet to spend the money to build something that meets the new NHTSA spec (that we know of today).

This is the most recent articles that goes into some of the details, but I have yet to find a link to their 327 page NHTSA report and what the US specs are. I would suspect that it's not final yet otherwise we would have been some sort of comment from the manufactures.

However that being said, many (non Tesla cars) are being hacked to turn on the Euro standard for LED Matrix lights. You know when you see it in SoCal and NoCal becuase it's obvious when driving on a dark road, plus watch the status sequence (during light calibration) of cars that are parked facing a wall. It's pretty cool!

NHTSA roadblocking headlight technology that could save lives

Difficulties in certification and testing is leaving safer, smarter lights on the shelf

www.newsweek.com

I know the issue. I asked where you read that the new Highland has compatible headlights. It's assumed they do not.

 

[David99]

However that being said, many (non Tesla cars) are being hacked to turn on the Euro standard for LED Matrix lights. You know when you see it in SoCal and NoCal becuase it's obvious when driving on a dark road, plus watch the status sequence (during light calibration) of cars that are parked facing a wall. It's pretty cool!

NHTSA roadblocking headlight technology that could save lives

Difficulties in certification and testing is leaving safer, smarter lights on the shelf

www.newsweek.com

I'm in no way an expert, but from this article it seems it's different test procedures. Nothing indicates that the existing headlights would not pass these tests.

It is sad that in the US, lifted trucks can have their headlights right at the hight of normal car's eye level and blind them dangerously, but they are stalling a well proven technology that would make driving at night safer for everyone.

 

[dusty22]

I have been reading about these headlights but I still do not understand why the government is so concerned about something that enhances safety. 327 pages on headlights?

 

[uscbucsfan]

I'm in no way an expert, but from this article it seems it's different test procedures. Nothing indicates that the existing headlights would not pass these tests.

It is sad that in the US, lifted trucks can have their headlights right at the hight of normal car's eye level and blind them dangerously, but they are stalling a well proven technology that would make driving at night safer for everyone.

The fact that no cars in the us can or have activated them is a pretty big hint if you don't believe news sources saying the lights don't comply.

 

[gtae07]

NIH syndrome. It's like that boss who just can't stand to simply approve something without putting their personal stamp on it.

This is very reminiscent of my interactions with FAA and EASA regulators. The US has some amazingly permissive rules when it comes to the small end of aviation (and I'm definitely not complaining about that), especially in comparison to many European countries. But when it came to updating rules we do have, in order to work with new technology or even just new ways of doing things, the EASA folks were a lot more willing to talk and consider new ideas. The FAA meanwhile was still stuck around "but we can't change that rule, because if we changed that rule it wouldn't be the rule any more!". A few of those guys even talked about certain rules being on "the third tablet, the one Moses dropped..."

 

[whitex]

There are a few articles on the internet that exposed the issue. In short:

ROW (outside of US/Canada) follows SAE J3069 as their standard for Matrix LED lights.
NHTSA doesn't believe that is enough for the US market and is working on their own spec, following J3069, but with what they called added safety. They have a 327-page document that outlines the US spec...

The big problem is that manufactures built many of the Matrix LED lights using J3069, but they have yet to spend the money to build something that meets the new NHTSA spec (that we know of today).

This is the most recent articles that goes into some of the details, but I have yet to find a link to their 327 page NHTSA report and what the US specs are. I would suspect that it's not final yet otherwise we would have been some sort of comment from the manufactures.

However that being said, many (non Tesla cars) are being hacked to turn on the Euro standard for LED Matrix lights. You know when you see it in SoCal and NoCal becuase it's obvious when driving on a dark road, plus watch the status sequence (during light calibration) of cars that are parked facing a wall. It's pretty cool!

NHTSA roadblocking headlight technology that could save lives

Difficulties in certification and testing is leaving safer, smarter lights on the shelf

www.newsweek.com

A bunch of government bureaucrats justifying their taxpayer funded paychecks by having design-by-committee sessions. The pragmatic way to do this would have been to enable the existing J3069 standard and allow cars with existing hardware to enable it without having to recertify the entire car to latest standards (yes, even if the old matrix headlights were to meet he new dreamed up spec, the whole car has to meet whatever date standards it want to follow, so a 2020 car with matrix headlight would have to be recertified with all 2024 rules in order to enable the headlights). Then, let the taxpayer funded academics argue over how it can be improved, and once they agree on whatever great compromise spec (everyone's idea must be included, due to equity and all such concepts), then they could phase that new standard in over a few years, give automakers time to redesign and retest.

Our government would rather we continue to blind other road users, and not have features such as highlighting potential pedestrians or animals which are predicted to collide with the car, all the while they get to collect paychecks for debating how smart they are. The J3069 is not perfect, but works great in most situations here in the US, as is, just hacked/enabled.

PS> Tesla could really use this tech. Around where I live there are more M3/MY's than almost any other car. Quite a lot of them drive with either high beams permanently on, or bad headlight alignment out of the factory, or their drivers messed with lights alignment on the MCU, resulting in blinding opposing traffic. It's not every M3/MY, but if you stand by a busy road and watch cars in the opposing lane which blind you, quite a lot of them end up M3/MY (actually I thin MY is more common, but it could be the most common Tesla on the roads).

 

[E90alex]

Tesla could really use this tech. Around where I live there are more M3/MY's than almost any other car. Quite a lot of them drive with either high beams permanently on, or bad headlight alignment out of the factory, or their drivers messed with lights alignment on the MCU, resulting in blinding opposing traffic. It's not every M3/MY, but if you stand by a busy road and watch cars in the opposing lane which blind you, quite a lot of them end up M3/MY (actually I thin MY is more common, but it could be the most common Tesla on the roads).

I think Tesla just has very poor factory aiming. They are all too high. I had to lower mine but most owners won’t know how or care to do that.

If you watch the Throttle House Cybertruck video on YouTube, their low beams were pointed up at the roofline of the cars in front.

 

[SourJellybeans]

From 2024-03-08:

Tesla is closing in on introducing adaptive headlights to the US market. The conversation about Tesla's adaptive headlights took a significant turn on X, where Tesla executive Lars Moravy confirmed the company's efforts to bring adaptive headlight support to the US. Despite the stringent Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards (FMVSS 108) for adaptive driving beams, Tesla is "plugging away" with this ambitious project.
[...]
He doesn’t give any hints in terms of a timeline or whether Tesla will be able to successfully meet the strict U.S. requirements,
[...]
Tesla is preparing to enable matrix headlights on all supported vehicles, including the Model Y, the first-gen Model 3, the Model S, and the Model X.

Per:

Tesla Says Adaptive Headlight Support Is Coming to the U.S.

Tesla gears up to introduce adaptive headlights for all supported models in the US, promising enhanced safety and visibility for night driving

www.notateslaapp.com

However, NotATeslaApp may be jumping to conclusions there, I think we've only seen statements that:

1) Tesla is working on FMVSS 108 compliance (unspecified models)
2) Tesla is working on enabling matrix support for older models (unspecified regions)

But I don't think we've seen anything specifically saying:

3) Tesla is working on FMVSS 108 compliance for older models

 

[dusty22]

I know matrix high beam headlights add or decrease light depending on the presence or absence of other vehicles. Does this mean that they can be left on and that normal low beam headlight use will no longer be needed?

 

[goRt]

I know matrix high beam headlights add or decrease light depending on the presence or absence of other vehicles. Does this mean that they can be left on and that normal low beam headlight use will no longer be needed?

Yes

 

[terranx]

I know matrix high beam headlights add or decrease light depending on the presence or absence of other vehicles. Does this mean that they can be left on and that normal low beam headlight use will no longer be needed?

If Tesla's implementation is good, yes.

The few videos I've seen of them on European cars makes me doubtful of that though

 

[whitex]

I know matrix high beam headlights add or decrease light depending on the presence or absence of other vehicles. Does this mean that they can be left on and that normal low beam headlight use will no longer be needed?

The current, outside of NA implementation, the high beams only turn on when the road requires extra illumination and above some speed (e.g. 28mph). However, when approach other cars (same direction or opposite direction) the headlights just darken a box around those cars, so it looks as if you had a movie projector displaying a black box where the other car is. Additionally, the opposite can be implemented, for example when a car sees a pedestrian or an animal which might be on a collision course, even when low beams are on, the high beams become a spotlight highlighting the object in question by flashing a "box" of light around it. That shows the driver of the possible collision course object, and it provides a warning to the object (it looks like someone is flashing high beams at that pedestrian for example).

 

[stopcrazypp]

The current, outside of NA implementation, the high beams only turn on when the road requires extra illumination and above some speed (e.g. 28mph). However, when approach other cars (same direction or opposite direction) the headlights just darken a box around those cars, so it looks as if you had a movie projector displaying a black box where the other car is. Additionally, the opposite can be implemented, for example when a car sees a pedestrian or an animal which might be on a collision course, even when low beams are on, the high beams become a spotlight highlighting the object in question by flashing a "box" of light around it. That shows the driver of the possible collision course object, and it provides a warning to the object (it looks like someone is flashing high beams at that pedestrian for example).

Have any car implemented or suggested implementing the latter? Wouldn't that potentially cause the "deer in the headlights" issue, except even worse (deer or pedestrian may be totally blinded from an even farther distance)?

 

[whitex]

Have any car implemented or suggested implementing the latter? Wouldn't that potentially cause the "deer in the headlights" issue, except even worse (deer or pedestrian may be totally blinded from an even farther distance)?

Yep, they did. One car I can tell you for certain, Porsche cars with matrix headlights and radar + FLIR sensors (to detect the objects on collision course). I suspect Audi has that too (same systems) as well as other cars. I know Mercedes had that system independent of headlights, I think they called it "spotlight" even many years ago (today it's incorporated into the matrix headlights).

The flashing light gets the attention of the "deer" and highlights it to the driver. The way it works in the North America for now, the car just beeps at you, may auto brake, but the "deer" stays dark until your regular beams light it up permanently (i.e. you got closer), so less time for driver or "deer" to react. I've personally used it, it occasionally flashes pedestrians getting close to the curb but intending to stop, however it just gets their attention (like if you flashed your headlights at them 3 times) rather than blind them.

 

[dusty22]

Some progress coming in Europe. Can the U.S. be far behind?

2024.8 Official Tesla Release Notes - Software Updates

Tesla software update 2024.8 includes One-Time Charge Limit, Danger Zones on Your Route, Adaptive High Beams, Speed Cameras on Your Route, Security Improvements, Windshield Washer, Fold Mirrors Button, Connectivity Icon, Turn Signals, New WiFi Menu, New Bluetooth Menu.

www.notateslaapp.com

 

[Tha_Ape]

Such pointless bureaucracy. The US should just adopt ECE Lightning standards. It would make everything easier for everyone.

Those standards need to be in Eagles per Cheeseburger before they'd even be considered

 

[terranx]

I think Tesla just has very poor factory aiming. They are all too high. I had to lower mine but most owners won’t know how or care to do that.

If you watch the Throttle House Cybertruck video on YouTube, their low beams were pointed up at the roofline of the cars in front.

My Plaid was ridiculous. Right headlight pointed down and to the left. Left headlight pointed absurdly high.

 

[Xenoilphobe]

Same shape for short beams on my Taycan (with matrix headlights). I think it's mandated by NHTSA. High beams get rid of that, and with the Taycan it actually slowly extends the low beam to high beams, but quickly drops to low beams if it detects cars ahead. In Europe it would just black out the cars.

As for enablement of the matrix headlights, I would not hold my breath, It was just a political bullshit the Biden administration spread. More than a year since signing, not a single car available with it, even though thousands of cars with matrix hardware have been driving in the US, since Europe has had them for a decade or more now. Furthermore, the way it was written, even when cars will show up with enabled adaptive headlights, most likely none of the old cars with the same hardware will ever get enabled, because as the regulations are written, the car must follow a particular set of regulations from when it was manufactured, In order for Tesla, Porsche, or others to enable adaptive headlights on older cars, they would have to completely re-certify the old model years up to latest standards, not just he headlights. That costs time and money, with no ROI for the manufacturers, possible costs. If Biden really wanted to do it right, they would explicitly specify a directive to NHTSA allow recertification of only the lighting system for older cars, then maybe the manufacturers would do it, saving American drivers from getting blinded by oncoming traffic.

Sounds like a perfect agency to defund, since it's redundant to one that exists already globally.

NHTSA - No Headlight That Shines Allowed.

 

[David99]

If Tesla's implementation is good, yes.

The few videos I've seen of them on European cars makes me doubtful of that though

If it's as good as Tesla's automatic wipers, we should be fine LOL