Europe has real adaptive lights and has had them for about ten years. These are the lights that vary the pattern and intensity so the headlight pattern is dynamic-think high beams that dip for oncoming cars but only the lane the oncoming car is in. Even better, lights fade up and down, much less jarring to the eye once you’ve seen it.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mmQ-xlYHu9Y&ab\_channel=NickO'Leary

US headlamp regs per our DOT have always seriously lagged technology, so while a few cars with the adaptive headlights came to the US from Audi, BMW and Benz, they were nerfed to DOT spec, fixed beam patterns with hard up/down. Canada allows them, as they allow either US spec cars OR ECE spec cars to be sold.

While there are a few folks like myself who got the software to fully activate the lights, none of the mods are US OEM. I have the Multibeam LED fully active in my C class and it is great for not glaring others while still looking for deer on the side of the road. The “fog light” pattern is much different and is a worthwhile assist in bad weather.

Congress forced the issue by making it a law, but IIRC, USDOT still found a way to screw up by forcing each car to be certified individually.

Are there any companies currently selling Adaptive Headlights in the US market, at any price point ?

  • zxraxB
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    1 year ago

    Many manufacturers sell cars with matrix/adaptive headlamp assemblies, but with the functionality neutered. I recently had the matrix functionality activated on my 992. The feature is glorious, and it’s a shame that NHTSA is so behind on it.