Photo: @TESLA_winston, @brandonee916 via X
Tesla installs LED-matrix headlights across its lineup, although the adaptive beam function is not available yet in the US. Owners report that even older models, which shipped with regular headlights, are now retrofitted with LED-matrix headlights, but only in certain conditions.
Tesla has been fitting its vehicles with LED-matrix headlights since 2020, although US regulations prevented them from enabling the adaptive beam functions. Even in Europe, where adaptive headlights have been used for more than a decade, Tesla has not offered more advanced functions. This changed in January with the refreshed Model 3, which got functioning adaptive headlights in Europe with the 2024.2 software update. The feature was expanded to all other Tesla models sold in Europe in March.
Despite this victory for European customers, people in the US still can't have adaptive headlights. This is even more annoying, considering Canadians can use the adaptive functions. The difference is that Canadian regulations allow using European-certified headlamps, whereas the US regulations have much stricter rules for adaptive headlamps than for regular ones.
More specifically, NHTSA's rules require adaptive headlights to respond extremely fast after detecting another vehicle. This is not only faster than other standards in use in Europe and Canada but also quicker than humans could switch regular high beams. The rules also mandate extremely narrow lines between bright and dark regions of the light beam, which is difficult to achieve in practice.
This normally prevents current LED-matrix headlamps sold in Europe from working in the US. However, Tesla's headlights are different in that the light beam is defined by software. The so-called "global headlights" can be used across the world, and their characteristics are modeled in software to match local regulations. This includes different scenarios for left- or right-hand drive. According to an earlier patent, the light beam can change automatically based on the GPS location to match local laws.
Tesla is now installing the global headlights on all new vehicles and, in certain conditions, even on older models. A 2018 Tesla Model 3 owner received new LED-matrix headlights during a minor repair on his car. Although the new lights still cannot offer adaptive functions in the US, they have been fully activated, as revealed by the "Tesla" lettering projected on the wall.
According to a recent service bulletin, Tesla instructed its service centers to replace both headlights on the 2017-2023 Model 3 and Model Y with LED-matrix parts if a repair or replacement is needed. Even if only one headlamp needs replacement, Tesla will replace both since the software needs both to be identical. In this case, the procedure includes updating the vehicle configuration to match the new headlamp type.
As other Model 3 owners reported, you can also buy the Global LED-matrix headlights yourself. According to a post on Facebook, a pair will set you back $569. Once you install them on your car, Tesla will make the configuration change in the software for $42. Although you can still not use the adaptive functions in the US for now, it might prove useful if Tesla turns them on with a future software update.
Despite this victory for European customers, people in the US still can't have adaptive headlights. This is even more annoying, considering Canadians can use the adaptive functions. The difference is that Canadian regulations allow using European-certified headlamps, whereas the US regulations have much stricter rules for adaptive headlamps than for regular ones.
More specifically, NHTSA's rules require adaptive headlights to respond extremely fast after detecting another vehicle. This is not only faster than other standards in use in Europe and Canada but also quicker than humans could switch regular high beams. The rules also mandate extremely narrow lines between bright and dark regions of the light beam, which is difficult to achieve in practice.
This normally prevents current LED-matrix headlamps sold in Europe from working in the US. However, Tesla's headlights are different in that the light beam is defined by software. The so-called "global headlights" can be used across the world, and their characteristics are modeled in software to match local regulations. This includes different scenarios for left- or right-hand drive. According to an earlier patent, the light beam can change automatically based on the GPS location to match local laws.
Tesla is now installing the global headlights on all new vehicles and, in certain conditions, even on older models. A 2018 Tesla Model 3 owner received new LED-matrix headlights during a minor repair on his car. Although the new lights still cannot offer adaptive functions in the US, they have been fully activated, as revealed by the "Tesla" lettering projected on the wall.
According to a recent service bulletin, Tesla instructed its service centers to replace both headlights on the 2017-2023 Model 3 and Model Y with LED-matrix parts if a repair or replacement is needed. Even if only one headlamp needs replacement, Tesla will replace both since the software needs both to be identical. In this case, the procedure includes updating the vehicle configuration to match the new headlamp type.
As other Model 3 owners reported, you can also buy the Global LED-matrix headlights yourself. According to a post on Facebook, a pair will set you back $569. Once you install them on your car, Tesla will make the configuration change in the software for $42. Although you can still not use the adaptive functions in the US for now, it might prove useful if Tesla turns them on with a future software update.
Tesla released a service bulletin on May 8th to replace the lights on all 2017-2023 Model 3s with the new retrofittable matrix lights ONLY when a repair/replace is needed on them.
— Teslascope (@teslascope) May 17, 2024
Thus, please don't bother your service center unless there is actual damage to these components). https://t.co/ipIgPtd7zx
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