I drove the Rivian R1S a few weeks ago from LA to Las Vegas, and though I’ll write a more complete review later, today I need to talk about its “Adaptive Drive Beam,” which has only recently become legal in the U.S. Because it is truly mind-blowing.
The car I drove was a 2025 Rivian R1S, meaning it’s the “Gen II” of Rivian’s SUV. It launched with some seriously impressive headlights, but their functions were initially limited, as Rivian notes:
New headlights and taillights are designed with the safety of everyone on the road in mind. These headlights feature Adaptive Drive Beam technology which will be enabled later this year, helping drivers stay more aware while driving on dark roads by adapting dynamically to oncoming traffic.
These types of headlights, offered by other manufacturers like BMW and Jaguar but really popularized by Audi as the company’s “Matrix-design LED headlights,” work by cutting power to certain LED elements based on what lies ahead. As an oncoming driver approaches, instead of just shutting off the high beams, this Matrix technology just removes “pixels” of light so as not to blind the oncoming driver, thus allowing for excellent visibility ahead. Audi has a great explanation here:
That video above, by the way, is eight years old, and in it, Audi says it hopes to someday bring this tech to the U.S. Now it’s 2024, and Audi still doesn’t have this technology on U.S. roads. Motor1 has a good breakdown of why that is in its July, 2023 article “Here’s Why The Audi Q6 E-Tron’s Active Headlights Won’t Be Offered In The US.” From that piece:
“The US had a specific regulation that only allowed for a high or a low beam, but nothing in between,” Audi said in a statement. “A new regulation was passed that allowed for adaptive beam lighting. However, the ruling also established differing requirements in terms of testing and certification than the globally accepted and SAE (Society of Automotive Engineers) informed solution. This is the solution we have offered outside of the US since 2012.”
So even though, since early 2022, automakers could have an “adaptive driving beam,” it looks like the technology out there doesn’t mean the newly revised FMVSS 108 headlight requirements. Hence the delay. I, frustratingly, own a BMW with Adaptive LED headlights that have had to be disabled for the U.S. market. Audi is planning to bring its tech here soon, and Rivian, somehow, managed to get it to market first, even ahead of the Ingolstadt-based automaker. Check it out:
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The headlights are wild. They don’t just remove “pixels” to avoid blinding oncoming drivers, they appear to be constantly adjusting to signage and even terrain. I’m not entirely sure what the algorithm involves (i.e. what triggers headlight adjustments other than oncoming traffic/vehicle speed/steering angle), but I can tell you: The lights do a lot of adjusting, pretty much constantly.
During my Vegas trip, I drove from flat terrain through a canyon with steep grades on each side, and the headlight shape changed markedly as I entered that gorge. It’s a little more animated than some folks might want, but I think it’s fun, and in the end, forward visibility is excellent.
Unless the beams are set to automatically highlight suicidal roadside beasts–cattle, deer, elk, moose, etc–they will just be a huge money-pit when you have to replace them every time you hit one of the aforementioned beasts.
Will they have an “Aggressive” mode to burn out the retinas of those jackwhistles that NEVER dim their lights? That might be fun.
All I can think about is the insane cost of replacing these when they go bad or get damaged from road debris/an accident. I quote out BMW headlights every day and so many of them are $2500+ (each) for fairly normal LED headlights.
Alot of those headlights already have the tech built in.
PS: Hello fellow E34 owner.
Which E34 do you have? Always good to see people with em
I’ve seen your posts on the BFC E34 fb group. I have an oxford green 95 540i.
Ooh … a headlight article. Time for me to roll out a rant!
Once upon a time – when headlights on
vehiclescars were all pretty much the same – similar brightness, similar location on the vehicle – they could be used to estimate the distance and speed of an approaching vehicle at night.Handy when one is trying to figure out if there is enough time/space to make a turn at an intersection.
Of course, there were some outliers with funkily-positioned headlights – for example, the close-set eyes of Jeep CJs and Saturn SCs. But, for the most part, a driver could reliably make a pretty accurate assessment.
Today, ‘headlights’ come in all shapes, sizes, intensities, and colors. It seems impossible to tell what or where any vehicle is at a glance.
The only mostly-reliable clue is that a white-ish hue probably indicates a vehicle that is approaching.
only in America where sealed beams were law. After composite headlights came out headlights basically went down the drain. People do not take proper care of plastic headlights anymore to keep them performing their best. hopefulyl newer LED headlights have proper safeguards against fading.
How do you “take proper care” of shit headlights that fade and fog over time? Refinish them every goddamn year? How about they choose materials which won’t degrade in just a few years?
Get serious. People don’t even bother replacing burned out bulbs, much less replacing bulbs before they blow (when they’re already losing output). And no one’s going to bother constantly refinishing an item that should never be touched.
And headlights now are far better than the sealed-beam garbage we used to have.
As a headlight nerd who has modded (painted the interior, and projector retrofitted) multiple sets of lights over the years, this is wicked cool!
As a realist, this is a massive repair/replacement cost waiting to happen. Hell, the led headlight units for my crosstrek alone are $1300 each from Subaru. Can’t imagine how much these cost each.
Just another expensive part that will total your car 10 years down the road.
Its amazing, until you need to replace a $4000 headlight.
thats already the reality with LED headlights.