At the end of last month, Tesla rolled out improvements to its Adaptive Matrix Headlights feature in the 2024.20 over-the-air (OTA)7 software update.
The 2024.20 and following sub-version point releases enabled Matrix Headlights for curves. This means that as the car drives through curves on the road at night, the headlights will illuminate darker areas more by adapting to the turning angle.
Before the 2024.20 update, Tesla had already enabled Adaptive High Beams in the software update version 2024.8.7.
Tesla influencer Greggertruck posted a video of the Adaptive Matrix Headlights in action on Elon Musk’s social media platform X (formerly Twitter). According to Greg, this was a loaner Tesla Model S. Stopped behind an SUV, when he turned the steering wheel left and right, the headlights changed direction respectively.
Another Tesla owner shared a video of him driving his car in the wild at night. According to the driver, the Matrix Headlights adapted to the turns and curves for better visibility.
At the end of this video, we can see a rabbit tried to cross the road and the headlight visibility helped the driver stop the vehicle in time. “Out of the many cars I’ve owned Tesla has the best headlights,” a person commented on the video (watch below).
The NHTSA allowed adaptive matrix headlights for high and low beams earlier this year. This approval gave Tesla a chance to deploy the Adaptive High Beams feature in the 2024.20 update as we have discussed above. The NHTSA still hasn’t put a clear regulatory approval regarding this function for curves and turns in place.
Only @Greggertruck has posted a video of Matrix Headlights working in curves with the steering wheel from the US. The above video by Franck is from Europe. Only a few Tesla owners on Reddit claimed that they received the functionality in the US. Otherwise most of them said they didn’t in a Reddit discussion thread on the topic.
How to Identify Tesla Matrix Headlights
As you can see in the comparison image below, there are two versions of the Tesla Model 3/Y headlights. The one on top is the old headlight that is simple LED. The bottom image is the new Tesla Matrix Headlight.
As I have have marked, you can see the projector dome on the outer side of the headlight. This dome circle identifies Tesla headlights as Matrix LEDs. The Model S and X design refresh also have the same headlight projector.
Another way of identifying matrix headlights in a Tesla vehicle is to park it in front of a wall (preferably in a darker spot) and run the Light Show. If the headlights project the word TESLA on the wall in official font, these are Matrix Headlights.
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