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Why is America stuck with bad headlights?

caranddriver.com

241–250 of 493 posts

Re: Why is America stuck with bad headlights?

#241

Lack of matrix headlights is a glaring omission on Teslas sold in Europe, too. Pretty much any other high-end car in Europe has them, at least as an option.

Tesla’s lack tons of stuff that’s standard or an option on other high end cars. They need to catch up on things like ventilated and massage seats, HUD, CarPlay, bird view cameras and many many more. They’re effectively simple cars, with powerful computer and drivetrain. Adding localized and very complex feature is likely very low on their to do list, especially as their RD spending is ridiculously low, and trending d…

I read that Tesla does have ventilated seats. That Tesla isn't a fan of HUDs (I think they are OK but not important at all). That bird view cameras aren't possible unless Tesla moves their existing cameras or adds yet more. It's silly to call them simple because they lack some esoteric features while ignoring useful features they have that other cars don't, such as dynamic software updates (and many others such as their piloting).

Re: Why is America stuck with bad headlights?

#242

I get the criticism, want, and need...but comparing a $120K+ Porsche to a $20K average car isn't exactly a fair comparison, even when it comes to headlights. The replacement cost on that headlight is probably astronomical, where I can replace a bulb for $40. I don't even know if the Boxster which is around ~$60K comes with these headlights. A quick lookup and those Porsche headlights cost ~$2K EACH.

Matrix LED are available with most large manufacturers in Europe. You can buy a $30k car equipped with those as well. They always cost extra but are not exclusively sold with high end cars.

Re: Why is America stuck with bad headlights?

#243
post #189

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Last car I owned detected lanes and cars approaching from behind. I had to disable the sound alerts. If someone had told me how many exceptions make the alerts bogus, I wouldn't have believed it. Not a single time the alerts responded to a real danger. On the contrary, I was alarmed for nothing, creating danger as I nervously looked around trying to understand what was wrong. Sensor that switched lights on or off was…

I got rid of a Mercedes C class that autobraked twice at random causing near accidents each time. The area where I live has a lot of narrow bridges and the autobrake would get triggered by the bridge posts. Traction on those bridges can be pretty uneven, especially when moist. First time came pretty close, second time I was prepared. There never was a third time. Stuff like that should work or be fitted to some test…

Are you sure they got triggered by the bridge posts? These systems tend to exclude any non moving objects. I've driven several cars with emergency braking installed and it never reacted to a static object, even if I was headed for it. The only time I found it can mis-trigger is for cyclists that you'd be able to pass easily.

Re: Why is America stuck with bad headlights?

#245
post #37

I really hate led headlights here in USA, They are too bright and need to be banned. People using these should be jailed for endangering lives. I don't know why but This seems to be particularly common here on big pickup trucks, which is even worse because they hit you right in your eyes if you are driving a regular car due to height difference. Also, I've had adaptive headlights on my subaru forever.

what is with Americans and jumping up at just jailing people? jesus christ you don't need to jail people because they used bright lights.

Exactly, just confiscate the car until lights have been fixed. It's much cheaper for the state than jailing people and there's a huge incentive to get the problem fixed quickly.

Re: Why is America stuck with bad headlights?

#246

I get the criticism, want, and need...but comparing a $120K+ Porsche to a $20K average car isn't exactly a fair comparison, even when it comes to headlights. The replacement cost on that headlight is probably astronomical, where I can replace a bulb for $40. I don't even know if the Boxster which is around ~$60K comes with these headlights. A quick lookup and those Porsche headlights cost ~$2K EACH.

> I get the criticism, want, and need...but comparing a $120K+ Porsche to a $20K average car isn't exactly a fair comparison, even when it comes to headlights.

You get matrix light as an extra from nearly all manufactures in in Europe (or at least Germany). Certainly from all "premium" manufacturers but e.g. also from Opel or Volkswagen. In fact Opel (formerly owned by GM) was one of the first to introduce them.

Re: Why is America stuck with bad headlights?

#247
post #128

A lot of those "adaptive" LED light suck! Loads of times I'm stuck with some guy behind me with flickery, colour-changing lights pointing right at my face through the mirrors.

Are you sure those are matrix LED? They might just be standard LED on an uneven road.

Re: Why is America stuck with bad headlights?

#248
I tend away from nationalistic exceptionalism and inferiorism. I tend to find one nation that seems very well together in one area is often all fouled up somewhere else. But I've just seen so many examples of America's inability to build working beaurocracy lately that I begin to wonder. This of course is a fairly trivial example but others are not.

I'm sure I'm consuming cherry-picked media and if I went looking I could find the U.K. government with its pants down over here or Japan up to something silly but I have been wondering of late.

Re: Why is America stuck with bad headlights?

#249
post #149
post #145

Earlier quoted context omitted.

As with all automotive parts, eventually the price will come down. Currently they are luxury, in some years they will be commodity.

They're also from a luxury brand that commands a premium price above and beyond its actual cost of supply. Give it five years and an entry level Hyundai will come with equivalent headlights and they'll only cost $100 to replace.

Brands like Hyundai and Toyota have been coming out with sealed LED units for years, and they cost thousands to replace

The headlights are not that cheap. Expensive optics, expensive LEDs with carefully selected emission spectrums, cooling solutions.

Re: Why is America stuck with bad headlights?

#250

Earlier quoted context omitted.

No, then you confiscate the car. Walk home and you will be a lot smarter by the time you get there.

That sounds like a bigger punishment!

Taking away someone's transportation would be a bigger punishment than locking them inside a prison? Prisoners also can't drive cars around, so jail is a strict superset of that punishment.

I'm not going to take a hard position on it, but I'm at least mildly skeptical that jail would ever be appropriate for something that can be just as easily solved by progressive fines and revoking a license. Jails in the US are really awful, so they'd need to produce great results for me to prefer putting someone into one of them. And it's not clear to me that they even reduce recidivism rates for crimes of this nature any more than other alternatives.

We should be pretty hesitant to send people to prison. Particularly with the knowledge of how calls for increased "tough on crime" policing typically go in America -- well meaning people should keep in mind that advocating for the expansion of carceral laws often results in unintended consequences.

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