Adaptive Drive Beam : Rivian R1 Is America’s First Car With This Special Headlight Technology, And It Is Amazing [Autopian]

[mpshizzle]

This is the one killer app feature I am super jelly for Gen 2. It's not even the better ride quality, driver assistance. I can live with the truck like ride and I don't the highway assist. But better headlights are always useful, and the auto highbeams on the Rivian are too lazy - even my 4 year old Lexus puts on the auto highbeams more aggressively. So I would love to have the matrix headlights, even if it means losing the halo turn signals.

This is very much personal taste, but I prefer the new turn signals. They have a sweep animation that looks pretty cool, and the iconic running lights are uninterrupted

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[TwelveVoltMan]

I have been curious...do you find other drivers bright you with these?

Not in the roughly three weeks I’ve had the vehicle.

 

[TwelveVoltMan]

My 2021 polestar 2 had lights capable of this, but polestar never enabled it. They've said they won't because they don't want to go through the testing involved. Some folks went on their own and enabled them, seems like they perform a lot the same.

My Tesla Model Y had the matrix headlights, too, but they were also never enabled.

 

[R1Tom]

This is the one killer app feature I am super jelly for Gen 2. It's not even the better ride quality, driver assistance. I can live with the truck like ride and I don't the highway assist. But better headlights are always useful, and the auto highbeams on the Rivian are too lazy - even my 4 year old Lexus puts on the auto highbeams more aggressively. So I would love to have the matrix headlights, even if it means losing the halo turn signals.

Oh yea...darn it...I forgot about the turn signal halo lights....I absolutely love them on the G1 OG trucks....

 

[C12farmer]

The adaptive high beams are one of the best features on Gen2. It’s really amazing.

I never get any oncoming traffic flashing me so I think it does a good job blocking out oncoming. Thats a big difference from Tesla vehicles that light up the road even on low beam but borderline blinds oncoming traffic. I can always tell a Tesla is coming the opposite way because I need to look down and to the right. M

Can anyone confirm if there are any mechanical elements in the headlights or is the leveling and other movement all solid state. I would not want the repair bill if something mechanical breaks out of warranty.

 

[CANCERDOC]

The adaptive high beams are one of the best features on Gen2. It’s really amazing.

I never get any oncoming traffic flashing me so I think it does a good job blocking out oncoming. Thats a big difference from Tesla vehicles that light up the road even on low beam but borderline blinds oncoming traffic. I can always tell a Tesla is coming the opposite way because I need to look down and to the right. M

Can anyone confirm if there are any mechanical elements in the headlights or is the leveling and other movement all solid state. I would not want the repair bill if something mechanical breaks out of warranty.

It is an LED array so it just turns on and off selective LED elements for the "matrix."

 

[Rividiculous]

I too LOVE the Gen2 headlights. My 2006 3 series lights are pretty awesome and turn with the wheel. For almost 20 years, they have been the best headlights I’ve experienced. The Rivian is even better since they adapt for other vehicles and I can leave them on. On occasion, it almost seems like they are lighting up the sides of the road for the car in front of me while casting no light on that car’s back window. (For the record, I am NOT tailgating them.)

The downside: the lights are so fun to watch that I sometimes get distracted by how cool they are.

 

[mpshizzle]

Can anyone confirm if there are any mechanical elements in the headlights or is the leveling and other movement all solid state. I would not want the repair bill if something mechanical breaks out of warranty.

They have both solid state and mechanical components.

The lights are set up with a more or less standard LED low beam, with one row of pixels at the top edge. These pixels handle the cornering feature where it will move with the steering wheel around corners. The High beams are entirely made up of pixels, and like the cornering lights, everythign is handled with no mechanical movement.

The auto leveling portion of the low beams does appear to be mechanical. That said - I would not consider that to be a reliability concern. Auto leveling lights have been in many vehicles for years, just as electronic latches, actuators, power lift gates, etc.

 

[Surferdude]

How does this work in suburban or semi-urban areas with people present on sidewalks/bike lanes? Are cyclists and pedestrians blinded?

 

[mpshizzle]

How does this work in suburban or semi-urban areas with people present on sidewalks/bike lanes? Are cyclists and pedestrians blinded?

I haven't really encounted that. It can't detect pedestrians, BUT it also doesn't activate the high beams if there are a lot of street lights and it's a generally bright area (where pedistrians are more likely to be)

 

[bfilippo]

I haven't really encounted that. It can't detect pedestrians, BUT it also doesn't activate the high beams if there are a lot of street lights and it's a generally bright area (where pedistrians are more likely to be)

Agreed, it would have to be a unique situation with pedestrians in a very dark area, on/by the road.

 

[cardad]

My 2021 polestar 2 had lights capable of this, but polestar never enabled it. They've said they won't because they don't want to go through the testing involved. Some folks went on their own and enabled them, seems like they perform a lot the same. I hadn't been driving the car enough to bother before we got rid of it.

I think this is one of the features that might sway me into upgrading my R1T. 4 months out of the year I'm commuting in the dark both ways.

I’ve run the gauntlet in terms of repeatedly slamming on the brakes for wildlife in the road so I think the existing lights are fine especially in darkness with limited traffic. This is more for keeping light projected while avoiding blinding other drivers.

the biggest takeaway is that gen 1 insurance will get cheaper while gen 2 will pay up. Another reason not to “upgrade”.

 

[tbennett017]

The matrix lights work amazingly well for me. I live in a rural area with a fair bit of night driving. So far no other drivers have objected to the lights. It gets foggy enough that I can see the 'holes' in the light as other cars go by. Fantastic system. It only gets confused in suburban areas with lots of lights to track simultaneously. I just turn it off then.

Porsche has marketed their matrix system that can highlight a pedestrian or animal with a bright spotlight on them - but it's only vapor IFAIK as their Matrix systems aren't active in the US yet.

 

[HapticWagon]

I was gonna post about this yesterday how Rivian is literally the first in USA for this matrix lights! It’s not been talked about enough!

 

[Thedude]

It’s not new technology, just hasn’t been legal in the US for long. European cars have had this for years and it was able to be activated if you had the right software and dongle to edit ECM settings. I was driving around with these four years ago in my Audi and they are awesome.

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