Enabling U.S. matrix LED headlights -- will Porsche follow Tesla's lead?

[Dan Richman]

Tesla is now enabling matrix LED headlights in the U.S., at least to a limited extent, in some of its models.

See

Any rumors floating around re whether Porsche may follow suit? I crave that feature.

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[Tooney]

Porsche loves following Tesla's lead....

 

[XLR82XS]

God people cannot speak today...... Kinda, like, actually. Backs roads!?! WTF is that guy talking about? It's a highway!

 

[MoniqueDenver]

>> Backs roads!?! WTF is that guy talking about? It's a highway!<<

yeah, I was thinking the same thing, especially, because last weekend I was driving through a mountain backroads and saw a massive deer on the side of the road. THOSE are backroads, buddy.

 

[Electron]

Porsche can’t even provide meaningful PCM updates beyond the first couple of years after launch. No way they are going to enable Full Matrix LED headlights.

 

[ct14garage]

Porsche can’t even provide meaningful PCM updates beyond the first couple of years after launch. No way they are going to enable Full Matrix LED headlights.

Porsche maybe not. But I certainly can ?

 

[j.w.s]

Tesla is now enabling matrix LED headlights in the U.S., at least to a limited extent, in some of its models.

See

Any rumors floating around re whether Porsche may follow suit? I crave that feature.

I wish they would, definitely. By the way, what happened to the person running 9xx.com who advertised a service to enable them. Their web site seems to have not been updated for some time, and still talks about a 2024 schedule.

 

[ZenicaNC]

Porsche forgets every Taycan 30 seconds after it is sold. We will NEVER see a factory authorized option to enable the matrix functionality. They have zero interest in making a sold car any better.

 

[Vercingetorix]

Oh no, is Tesla lying again?
Update: This article has been updated to make it clearer that the U.S. and Canada did not receive full matrix headlight support. What they received was the ability for vehicles with matrix headlights to light up the sides of the road in response to upcoming turns. The Tesla release notes state:

“Headlights now adapt for curves in the road ahead for greater visibility in low lighting. Enable this feature in your vehicle settings at Lights > Adaptive Headlights.”

This differs from the European release notes for the same feature which state:

“Headlights now adapts for curves in the road ahead of you and illuminate farther when you’re driving on a motorway.”

“Enable these features in your vehicle settings at Lights > Adaptive Headlights.”

 

[Brandinimo]

Zero shot they enable this. You will need to buy a new one.

 

[whitex]

Very unlikely. The issue is US newly minted standard is not compatible with the rest of the world, requiring new designs for US market. Two main sticking points are testing (US requires much more rigorous testing and with real cars, no dummy/simualted cars) and shading (US requires the exclusion area to fade through shades of gray, the rest of the world standard is just a on/off border). So while Porsche or Tesla could retest, they cannot make LEDs designed to only have ON/OFF states to suddenly project shades gray. Maybe someone like Tesla could eventually figure out a software workaround, like PWM modulating the LEDs, but I suspect the LEDs are not speced to do that. Porsche does not have that level of control over their supplier's software - this would be a whole new contract to negotiate for a whole new headlight. There is only one company in the US that has found a way to enable adaptive/matrix headlights:
https://carbuzz.com/only-car-brand-full-adaptive-driving-beam-headlights-america-rivian/
Article above has some details why too.

For US matrix owners, the only way is recode the car. It's a bit more involved than some other simple recordings. It is doable even with PIWIS3 (there have been rumors that PIWIS4 is required, I did it with PIWIS 3 before PIWIS4 was even released).

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