Why red rear signal lights on US version?

[JulienW]

Oddly the US allows a confusing hodge podge of red or amber, detected or not detected rear brake lights. Definitely more ambiguous and dangerous but…….

Of course most other countries require detected amber rear signals.

Despite the fact that amber’s are safer it would seem that having just one part and standard for all Model 3’s would benefit Tesla. So why does Tesla use red in the US?

 

[wycolo]

Personally, I would add green rear lights that activate whenever regen hits, say, 25% or so. In hilly country following drivers would soon figure it out and enjoy a good eco-chuckle.
--

 

[Manitoba Keith]

Could do that easily with LED's. I have read that Canada gets different Stop Lights than US. Wondering if the US cars get the rapid blinking ones (for a short time) before going solid.

 

[GPinzone]

TL;DR: Amber taillights look terrible. The US has the third stop light that European countries do not, which mitigates the issue.

 

[sixela]

The third stop light is also mandatory in Europe.

 

[inthecity]

I’d love to have a rear fog light, the red signals aren’t bad I don’t mind - it’s more uniform across the rear lights.

 

[iluvmacs]

Wondering if the US cars get the rapid blinking ones (for a short time) before going solid.

Nope, this is actually illegal in the US.

 

[Manitoba Keith]

Did not know that - obviously!
I was referring to the third light only. I thought it was pretty good as it is an attention grabber. However, when used too often it is a distraction, especially in slow moving traffic.

 

[Sky-Pilot]

Nope, this is actually illegal in the US.

That's not entirely true. In California you can have a flashing center brake lamp so long as, a) it is not a strobe, and b) that it flashes no more than 4 times in the first 4 seconds. I have a flashing center light on my roadster.

 

[RobC]

There are numerous studies that show the amber turn signals give a statistically significant reduction in accidents. Once parts are widely available I plan on swapping mine out for the European modules with the amber turn signals.

 

[compu85]

The third stop light is also mandatory in Europe.

Yup, has been since 1998.

The euro Model 3 lights have the outer portion of the body fixtures for the turn signal, and the inner 4/5 are the brake light. I don't know if the small "point" turn signal would meet US lighting size requirements. I personally don't like how this makes the already somewhat small US brake light even smaller.

-J

 

[run-the-joules]

Because Tesla decided to choose aesthetics over safety and ease of production.

 

[Saghost]

Yup, has been since 1998.

The euro Model 3 lights have the outer portion of the body fixtures for the turn signal, and the inner 4/5 are the brake light. I don't know if the small "point" turn signal would meet US lighting size requirements. I personally don't like how this makes the already somewhat small US brake light even smaller.

-J

It probably wouldn't. I know there are several Audi models with the progressive line turn signals that in the US market only have a big additional bulb that lights with the first dots of the progressive line because the size of the first dots isn't big enough to meet US requirements.

 

[ewoodrick]

Oddly the US allows a confusing hodge podge of red or amber, detected or not detected rear brake lights. Definitely more ambiguous and dangerous but…….

Of course most other countries require detected amber rear signals.

Despite the fact that amber’s are safer it would seem that having just one part and standard for all Model 3’s would benefit Tesla. So why does Tesla use red in the US?

Because Red=stop, Yellow/Amber = Caution, Green=Go???

 

[compu85]

Green Go lights are actually legal in a few states, I can't recall which ones offhand though.

 

[XLR82XS]

I agree, amber taillights look TERRIBLE. I like all red or red/clear.

 

[JulienW]

Because Red=stop, Yellow/Amber = Caution, Green=Go???

Red does = stop and that is what brake lights are for. Amber = turn, just look at the front of ANY car (and the rear of any car outside of the US) and the turn signals are amber.

I agree, amber taillights look TERRIBLE. I like all red or red/clear.

I agree but sometimes safety should take priority over aesthetics. Also being rear ended would look WORSE than amber turn signals.

While it is strange that regulations require them on the front, it just seems odd that the rear is not included.

However my main point was Tesla is so razor sharp at trying to reduce ANY deviations that add complexity, parts or cost so why not just have this standardized too?

 

[moshee]

I would be interested to see a tail lamp mod that adds a progressive amber strip for turn signals, similar to what someone showed off in the front fogs recently. The extra emitters exist in other markets so I wonder if there's at least an unused signal in the wire harness for that purpose.

 

[WilliamG]

Having no amber turn signals really cheeses me off in the 3. In addition, the two side brake lights are absolutely tiny - certainly the tiniest that I’ve ever seen on any modern car.

With my 2016 Golf R I actually swapped out the US tail lights for the European LED tail lights and re-wired/re-programmed the car to get proper, separate, amber turn signals. And for those saying they’re ugly, how so? On that car the lens was CLEAR. Just because you have amber turn signals does not mean the plastic is also amber.

America is doing it wrong in this regard, and it’s a shame.

 

[WilliamG]

I agree, amber taillights look TERRIBLE. I like all red or red/clear.

You can still have clear while having amber turn signals.