Self dipping headlights should be next inline for neural net smarts

[Matt_NZ]

I've only had my Model 3 for a couple weeks now but I'm ready to declare the self dipping headlights more of an annoyance than a feature.

It seems that if I'm not approaching the oncoming car directly then the car rarely dips the headlights for them. I'm sure it probably would eventually dip them but I'm not prepared to blind the oncoming vehicle long enough to find out Similarly, if the car I'm following is 100m or more ahead of me it doesn't appear to see them and turns on the high beams.

I never experienced the wipers before they were updated with learnings from the neural net but from my experience with them they seem perfect. I think it's time Tesla put similar effort into the headlights now because right now as a polite road user I can't trust the self dipping feature.

 

[Kevy Baby]

I have nothing to add other than it took me a careful reading to understand what you meant by "Self dipping headlights." Here is the states, we refer to them as "low beams" (the "dipped" position) and "high beams" (the "blind the poor sap coming from the other direction" position).

At least I think this is what you are referring to

 

[jboy210]

My Model X does great at this. I have never been flashed once by an oncoming driver. We just got a Model 3 and I assumed it would perform just as well, maybe not?

 

[BrandX]

I agree with Matt. I found them to be "not considerate enough", so I've stopped using them. However, that was based on a single drive where the car didn't dip them in 3 or 4 situations where I thought it should have. Perhaps I should turn them back on and try once more.

 

[Kevy Baby]

I should add that generally speaking, they seem to work well on my 3 - never been flashed once. And I have about 7,000 miles on my car.

 

[Kiwiadventure]

I've only had my Model 3 for a couple weeks now but I'm ready to declare the self dipping headlights more of an annoyance than a feature.

It seems that if I'm not approaching the oncoming car directly then the car rarely dips the headlights for them. I'm sure it probably would eventually dip them but I'm not prepared to blind the oncoming vehicle long enough to find out Similarly, if the car I'm following is 100m or more ahead of me it doesn't appear to see them and turns on the high beams.

I never experienced the wipers before they were updated with learnings from the neural net but from my experience with them they seem perfect. I think it's time Tesla put similar effort into the headlights now because right now as a polite road user I can't trust the self dipping feature.

I've found my M3 ok around Auckland larger area. When I drive my BMW with adductive high beam/low beam lighting I have the same problems as some have with Tesla vehicles lights when approaching drivers so I don't worry anymore and just drive. The approaching drivers are not being blinded they just believe the vehicle coming towards has brighter lights than Toyota's very poor lights.

 

[Matt_NZ]

I have nothing to add other than it took me a careful reading to understand what you meant by "Self dipping headlights." Here is the states, we refer to them as "low beams" (the "dipped" position) and "high beams" (the "blind the poor sap coming from the other direction" position).

At least I think this is what you are referring to

Sorry yes, a bit of New Zealand slang there. Dipping your headlights here means switching to low beams

The issues I'm observing could also be a quirk of the RHD conversion. It wouldn't be the first - it also seems to favour a phone key on the left of the car vs the right if there's a key available on both sides and applies the left phones driver profile

 

[flyhighboi20]

The auto high beams on my M3 are horrible. They seem to not switch to low soon enough sometimes and I've had multiple times where they switched back and forth making the oncoming car flash their brights at me because they thought I was telling them their high beams were on. I've had multiple times when behind another car that the high beams will either come on or flash back and forth a couple times. It didn't take me long after getting my car to turn this feature off and has never been turned back on.

 

[Cycle11111]

I've only had my Model 3 for a couple weeks now but I'm ready to declare the self dipping headlights more of an annoyance than a feature.

It seems that if I'm not approaching the oncoming car directly then the car rarely dips the headlights for them. I'm sure it probably would eventually dip them but I'm not prepared to blind the oncoming vehicle long enough to find out Similarly, if the car I'm following is 100m or more ahead of me it doesn't appear to see them and turns on the high beams.

I never experienced the wipers before they were updated with learnings from the neural net but from my experience with them they seem perfect. I think it's time Tesla put similar effort into the headlights now because right now as a polite road user I can't trust the self dipping feature.

We have been driving an MX and an M3 for 2 years now and find the auto high/low beam to be very good. If I was going to be biased I would say they are a tad over polite - ie dipping/ dimming sooner than needed

 

[ericem]

I'd say on the model x ap1 they work flawless and the way they switch increasing brightness is awesome.

The model 3 however does a terrible job and often blinds oncoming and like flashing on a d off in a terrible way grabbing attention.

 

[Kevy Baby]

Sorry yes, a bit of New Zealand slang there. Dipping your headlights here means switching to low beams

Please don't apologize - you've given me a new term!

 

[North75]

Hmm... I was wondering if it could be an issue with RHD conversion, but then others above with LHD are claiming it doesn't work well either.
Personally I've found them to be basically perfect in my Model 3. As far as I can remember, I've never had them not dim when expected.

 

[Skotty]

If we are talking about the auto high beams here -- and I'm not sure if we are -- I consider them the absolute worst Tesla feature, always has been, still is. I turn them off and leave them that way mostly permanently. Every once and a while I turn them on just long enough to confirm they still suck.

Really, I totally don't care about this feature. They aren't needed. It's rare to be on an empty road where you can actually turn on high beams, and it's easy enough to do it manually. Auto high beams is a needless feature that doesn't work anyway.

Also, as an old timer I guess I am now, low beams these days provide as much light as high beams used to. Turning on high beams is more like turning on the illegal roll bar lights on a gussied up pickup truck. Makes me care even less about high beams.

 

[Kevy Baby]

If we are talking about the auto high beams here -- and I'm not sure if we are -- I consider them the absolute worst Tesla feature, always has been, still is. I turn them off and leave them that way mostly permanently. Every once and a while I turn them on just long enough to confirm they still suck.

Really, I totally don't care about this feature. They aren't needed. It's rare to be on an empty road where you can actually turn on high beams, and it's easy enough to do it manually. Auto high beams is a needless feature that doesn't work anyway.

Also, as an old timer I guess I am now, low beams these days provide as much light as high beams used to. Turning on high beams is more like turning on the illegal roll bar lights on a gussied up pickup truck. Makes me care even less about high beams.

I could not disagree with you more about your entire post. Not in a bashing way - just my personal thoughts (definitely not giving a thumbs down for it!).

While I live in the suburban jungle and high beams are normally not needed for me, there is a canyon road I occasionally use near my house. The high beams make a HUGE difference on visibility.

And I have seen a significant improvement on the auto high beam in the last couple of updates. While it may not be perfect, to me it has gotten to the point where it better than me doing it manually.

And I'm a fellow "old-timer" - I have in excess of 1 million ICE miles under my belt.

 

[Matt_NZ]

High beams are certainly still useful since low beams can only illuminate a short distance in front of you. High beams are useful for seeing if there's something on the road further up and to better prepare for corners. Moreso on the Model 3 where it seems the high beams have more lumens than the surface of the sun lol.

I guess I'll experiment with the auto feature a bit more. I haven't done a whole lot of night driving yet since it's summer here and the days are long.

 

[Zcd1]

I find that my automatic headlights work really well. (shrug)

 

[Perscitus]

What would be really useful is if Tesla enabled the matrix led array that forms the Model 3 low-beam to selectively light up different sections of the road (dim if oncoming traffic is detected, brighten to reflect off signs etc). Front and side firing cameras would be used for this.

This is something available on most VAG vehicles across Europe and Asia... disabled in the US (antiquated DOT regulations).

 

[SouthSeas]

My Model X does great at this. I have never been flashed once by an oncoming driver. We just got a Model 3 and I assumed it would perform just as well, maybe not?

The vast majority of people won't flash their lights when yours are on high. The fact that you don't see it happen doesn't mean your car is handling the high beams well.

I've stopped using the auto high beam. The times I need to manually dip them are not often, but if I am going to have to keep track of watching for the auto control to work or not, why bother using it and just watch for when I need to turn the high beams down? Then there is the fact that when it is set for auto, the car often does not appropriately return to high beam and I'm driving into a curve with limited vision. When it is in auto mode I can't override the car keeping the headlights on low beam.

No, this is yet another of Tesla's Beta features that isn't worth using because it just doesn't work well enough to be better than not using it.

When I first got the car, the windshield wipers were the same way, but they seem to have improved. Also, they can be overridden with the manual control in the S and X. I think in the 3 you have to go through the menus on the console which is not the best idea Tesla ever had.

 

[Needsdecaf]

I’ve never owned any car with auto high beams that was any good at it.

I hear the newer cars with multi-matrix adaptive patterns are better but have no experience with them. just conventional.

 

[jboy210]

What would be really useful is if Tesla enabled the matrix led array that forms the Model 3 low-beam to selectively light up different sections of the road (dim if oncoming traffic is detected, brighten to reflect off signs etc). Front and side firing cameras would be used for this.

This is something available on most VAG vehicles across Europe and Asia... disabled in the US (antiquated DOT regulations).

Tesla is stuck with US DOT restrictions like every car maker. BMW dimmed the headlights on the side closest to the opposing traffic a decade or more ago in Europe. But in the US they were prohibited from doing this.