Really Frustrated with Auto High Beams

[Braumin]

This is not my first car with auto high beams so I am shocked at just how poorly this is implemented. It's getting darker earlier now (got the car in April) so not really driven it too much on the highway at night but I did this weekend. The high beams turn off like 3 seconds before a car is on me. If there is another car 2 seconds after that, they will turn on for half a second in the middle and basically flash the person. How is this car so powerful and then it fails at the basics? Wipers and lights are kind of important and Tesla fails miserably at both.

My BMW was arguably too sensitive and would turn off the high beams if there was a light at a farm yard 2 miles away, but at least that's not blinding the people oncoming. This is such a terrible implementation. Tesla give us some ability to adjust the sensitivity at least if you are going to screw it up this badly.

 

[rpiotro]

This is not my first car with auto high beams so I am shocked at just how poorly this is implemented. It's getting darker earlier now (got the car in April) so not really driven it too much on the highway at night but I did this weekend. The high beams turn off like 3 seconds before a car is on me. If there is another car 2 seconds after that, they will turn on for half a second in the middle and basically flash the person. How is this car so powerful and then it fails at the basics? Wipers and lights are kind of important and Tesla fails miserably at both.

My BMW was arguably too sensitive and would turn off the high beams if there was a light at a farm yard 2 miles away, but at least that's not blinding the people oncoming. This is such a terrible implementation. Tesla give us some ability to adjust the sensitivity at least if you are going to screw it up this badly.

So, you weren't happy with either car in this department. I think they work pretty well. Not my first car with them either. Or second. Or third. Same for auto wipers.

No, they are not 100% perfect. But, at least with Tesla they are not tied to fixed sensors. They use cameras and AI. The operation can be tweaked in software and I have seen incremental improvements in both functions in just the two months since I got the car. What other manufacturer can say that?

 

[ZilWin]

I agree with your assessment. I think both the lights and wipers are poorly programmed. I have a May21 M3 so at mine is a Tesla Vision car. i believe the headlights and wipers (to a lesser degree) are set up to accommodate the camera vision in the darker environment. My assumption is that the programmers believe they need as much light as possible to maximize the effectiveness of the vision system. I assume it is a safety and data collection issue. I question that as I just completed a coast to coast trip with much of the driving at night in both clear and heavy rain/road spray conditions. i had the opportunity to look at the camaras available during these rain/road spray events and I am surprised the AP system can gather useful data from the poor vision that exists during those events. Conversely, if the system can still function during limited vision situations, why can't they throttle back the headlight algos during clear but dark conditions? Hopefully it is a work in progress that will improve. i got to the point where it was more efficient for me to drive without AP during dark periods and use it during daylight hours where it performed well.

 

[Candleflame]

the high beams are better than what they were a couple of years ago but still unuseable.

 

[roblab]

Mine work just fine. Sorry about yours.

 

[Braumin]

So, you weren't happy with either car in this department. I think they work pretty well. Not my first car with them either. Or second. Or third. Same for auto wipers.

No, they are not 100% perfect. But, at least with Tesla they are not tied to fixed sensors. They use cameras and AI. The operation can be tweaked in software and I have seen incremental improvements in both functions in just the two months since I got the car. What other manufacturer can say that?

This is the typical Tesla answer. "They aren't working as designed, but Tesla can update them!" OK well until they do, they are not working very well.

 

[afadeev]

The high beams turn off like 3 seconds before a car is on me. If there is another car 2 seconds after that, they will turn on for half a second in the middle and basically flash the person. How is this car so powerful and then it fails at the basics? Wipers and lights are kind of important and Tesla fails miserably at both.

My high beams (HB) also come on way too late for my taste, which is particularly unhelpful during the deer mating season (now). I already had to ABS brake twice this fall to avoid taking out the horny tick transporters.

I've learned to manually over-ride both high-beams and wiper functions.
At least you can engage the high beams with a dedicated stalk on a Model 3. Adjusting wipers speed requires more fumbling with the screen.

My BMW was arguably too sensitive and would turn off the high beams if there was a light at a farm yard 2 miles away, but at least that's not blinding the people oncoming. This is such a terrible implementation. Tesla give us some ability to adjust the sensitivity at least if you are going to screw it up this badly.

Truth be told, my BMW (F80 Xenons) high-beams are more powerful than those on the Model 3. Plus they adjust the aim with the turn of the steering wheel (they shine "ahead" of the curve). So all things being equal, BMW has to be more careful with toning them down.

That being said, I frequently manually turn the high beams on/off in the bimmer as well, especially in areas with aggressive wildlife.

But, at least with Tesla they are not tied to fixed sensors. They use cameras and AI. The operation can be tweaked in software ...

Tesla's high-beam activation is driven by the light sensors, identical to the HB activation method of all other cars.
All cars process light sensor inputs into action, same as Tesla. Unless you have firm evidence that no other automaker applies AI/ML logic for light activation triggers, I would suggest that your claim is unsubstantiated.

I have seen incremental improvements in both functions in just the two months since I got the car. What other manufacturer can say that?

Pretty much all OEMs COULD say that (OTA updates have been standard fair on cars for ~10 years, except Ford), but most automakers do NOT pull that trigger anywhere close to the rapidity of Tesla. Mostly because they do more thorough pre-production testing, so they don't have to.

I wish I could say quantity of OTA updates was positively correlated with the quality.
After ~3 years of TM3P ownership, OTA updates have not materially improved any of the following key deficiencies:

• Auto-pilot error rates are still too high, and it fails consistently in all the places it was failing ~3 years ago. I've just trained myself in what circumstances to never ever engage it.
• Auto-wipers still do whatever they want to, and not what I would wish they did.
• Auto-high-beams are usually late, and activation is unpredictable.

Tesla has, in all fairness, has OTA delivered more games that I care to keep track of. And some new infotainment options that I don't care about.

And then there is the dog mode.

a

 

[Habu]

The auto wipers and high beams are unusable on my 2021 M3. I’ve driven other cars with these features and the implementation wasn’t perfect but was still usable and nice to have.

It seems like a solvable problem. Why don’t they address it?

 

[TexasTezla]

I've been a Tesla owner for 2 years and have never had a big problem with high beams nor wipers. Sure, sometimes my wipers go faster than necessary but I just manually change the speed, no biggie. As for high beam, never had an issue that would cause me or other drivers issues. I drive freeway at night reasonably regularly too. Seems to work fine for me.

 

[TLLMRRJ]

The auto wipers and high beams are unusable on my 2021 M3. I’ve driven other cars with these features and the implementation wasn’t perfect but was still usable and nice to have.

It seems like a solvable problem. Why don’t they address it?

I am sure right after they fix phantom braking and crashing into parked cars, they will get right on to fixing the wipers and high beams.

 

[KenC]

This is not my first car with auto high beams so I am shocked at just how poorly this is implemented. It's getting darker earlier now (got the car in April) so not really driven it too much on the highway at night but I did this weekend. The high beams turn off like 3 seconds before a car is on me. If there is another car 2 seconds after that, they will turn on for half a second in the middle and basically flash the person. How is this car so powerful and then it fails at the basics? Wipers and lights are kind of important and Tesla fails miserably at both.

My BMW was arguably too sensitive and would turn off the high beams if there was a light at a farm yard 2 miles away, but at least that's not blinding the people oncoming. This is such a terrible implementation. Tesla give us some ability to adjust the sensitivity at least if you are going to screw it up this badly.

sounds like the light sensor is not sensitive enough. I'd have it checked out.

 

[NBCGLX]

I seem to have the opposite problem, that the high beams are too aggressive to come on and the car turns the high beams on even when there are other vehicles around (either in front of me or oncoming)! It's especially annoying on highways that have the large medians separating the directions of travel. I also hate, and this applies to all vehicles with auto high beams, that the high beams won't turn on at low speeds. Driving in semi-rural heavily wooded areas with lots of curvy, you need high beams even at low speeds. But all auto high beam systems seem to not turn on the high beams unless you're going above a certain speed.

 

[Gasaraki]

On the highway it's not good because they are too sensitive. Cars on the other side with a big medium still turns off my high beams when the camera sees them.

I don't like auto high beams on any car.

 

[CheezyNachos]

I haven't used auto high beams, but what's the complaint about auto wipers? It has only rained a few times since I got the car, but they don't seem any better or worse than my previous vehicles.

 

[Braumin]

I haven't used auto high beams, but what's the complaint about auto wipers? It has only rained a few times since I got the car, but they don't seem any better or worse than my previous vehicles.

They seem too sensitive and ramp up the speed to max way too quickly, and there's no adjustment at all in Auto. I don't hate the wipers but it's a bit sad that such a tech focused car doesn't do this as well a BMW from 2008.

 

[Durzel]

For whatever reason Tesla doesn't want to use a tried-and-tested rain sensor for their cars even though at this point it is as refined as its going to get, and the cost fo the part is basically nominal. They used to use a sensor, but decided at some point to go with camera/AI based detection instead.

A rain sensor just works, in all conditions and whatever time of day. A camera based system is always going to be less effective, in all conditions, not least of which because of where it is positioned (a rain sensor is typically positioned behind the windscreen on the dash, projecting IR at a 45 degree angle and reacting to the feedback).

Auto main beam being hopeless I can't explain, as that IS typically a camera based system (or perhaps photoelectric sensors). It is slow to react, switches off on reflections from signs, and doesn't see distant rear lights at all as far as I can tell. Worse still development on both of these things seem to be stagnant - although people claim after almost every update that they've perceived some improvement, based on a sample size of 1 and a couple of drives.

 

[Candleflame]

sounds like the light sensor is not sensitive enough. I'd have it checked out.

Model 3 uses the cameras, not a light sensor.
That said, im sure the whole thing is just a programming problem where Tesla tries to switch the highbeams off when the car sees "other cars approaching".

I think thats completely the wrong approach. We rather want them turn off too early than too late. If the camera picks up a white or orange dot then it should just disable them.
When theres street lighting then with a light sensor you dont get high beams either. I dont see that as a problem.

 

[Durzel]

Whatever other cars do, usually with one camera, is good enough.

I drove a new Peugeot e-2008 (not sure if you get those in the States) which was basically flawless. The only thing it didn’t “see” was an increase in lighting from an oncoming cars headlights around a corner, but it would turn off pretty much instantly - as fast as I would do manually at least - and come back on again quickly.

When I use auto main beam in my Model 3 I’ve often got my hand hovering over the stalk just in case it decides to blind oncoming cars for too long, or in situations where I catch up to someone from behind, where it resolutely fails to identify rear red lights.

 

[Nielsjah95]

They seem too sensitive and ramp up the speed to max way too quickly, and there's no adjustment at all in Auto. I don't hate the wipers but it's a bit sad that such a tech focused car doesn't do this as well a BMW from 2008.

I have the exact opposite problem with my car. One time I had such heavy rain and the wipers would not go quicker than the first setting. I had to manually turn it on in the menu while being practically blind on the highway. Luckily autopilot kept me within my lane.

 

[Candleflame]

I have the exact opposite problem with my car. One time I had such heavy rain and the wipers would not go quicker than the first setting. I had to manually turn it on in the menu while being practically blind on the highway. Luckily autopilot kept me within my lane.

if you hold down the wiper button it will go at the quickest speed while you use voice control to increase wiper speed to max.