JDA_yeg

Hello,

What sucks is that MATRIX LED headlights are banned in North America because of old laws indicating that the light housing should be able to separate low/high beam mode. It appears that the US Gov is taking its time in this topic. Canada, on the other hand, has been consistent in following US with automobile laws to help ease trading between them, but Canada did something different by making day light running lights mandatory in all vehicles (1990's), which statistically showed a reduction in collisions. US still does not mandate DRL and continues to have mixed opinions on DRL's.

So certain manufacturers recently took advantage of this by asking the Canadian government (since they've been open to amendments) to consider allowing "Matrix LED" which they refer to as adaptive forward-illumination system (AFS) and adaptive driving beam (ADB). So on February 26, 2016, an article sponsored by Transport Canada published a proposal on the regulation on the Motor Vehicle Safety Regulations in the Canada Gazette (ARCHIVED — Canada Gazette €“ Regulations Amending the Motor Vehicle Safety Regulations (Interpretation and Standards 108 and 108.1)) indicating an amendment in allowing AFS technology in Canada, regardless of current US regulations not complying. Stakeholders have been asked for their opinions, with most requesting the allowance of AFS/ABD.

Since Gazette Part 1 is a proposal, the release of Gazette Part 2 would make it an official regulation which would require immediate compliance from automobile manufacturers (but with a 1 year allowance to comply). After messaging the Motor Vehicle Safety Directorate, the Gazette Part 2 is expected to be released at the end of this year. A Regulations Officer indicated to me that it is their intention to allow AFS in Canada.

So the likelihood that we may see MATRIX LED headlights in Canada may be a lot sooner than expected.

msochemist

No idea on the audis but matrix led is orderable in porsche and intelligent lightning is orderable in mercedes and bmw.

Obsidian3K

Yet another avenue of hope!

The US DoT was making noises last year about updating the FMVSS to account for technology invented later than the 70's, but that was pre-election and there hasn't been a word since. Given the, uh, leadership challenges at other departments, my assumption is that whoever was appointed to lead the DoT doesn't believe in their mandate, the existence of motorized transportation, or both, and we shouldn't expect anything from them for the foreseeable future.

Failing the above, I was hoping for complete adoption of WP.29 now that CETA is in effect. That seems like it'll happen in the fullness of time, although since we already accept WP.29-compliant headlight and bumper standards, I'm not sure why Matrix LEDs aren't already allowed here.

The possibility of updating CMVSS wasn't even on my radar, so I'm happy to see how far along that process is. If that completes, we'll have to hope that Audi actually decides to offer us Matrix LEDs, since they don't seem to have any problem shipping us cars that unnecessarily conform to US requirements in other ways (high-profile rear headrests, rear bumpers with extra red reflectors, amber front side marker lights).

But here's hoping that a CMVSS update gets us cars that are closer to RoW-spec!

Obsidian3K

Huh, right you are. Mercedes doesn't offer it on the C-class (just "Active LED High-Performance", which are just regular LED lights), but they do have it on the E-class (as "Multibeam LED") and probably others.

I'd be interested to know if these systems work in such a way that they don't fall afoul of (F C)MVSS, or if I'm right about the existing WP.29 carve-out for headlight standards.

JDA_yeg

Which is very interesting. The Porsche indicates that the Matrix LED is available only in the Canadian market I believe. I never understood how these regulations work, but based on the fact that this technology is technically "not allowed" yet, I'm not sure how Porsche is able to offer it as of now. This could be an indication that Transport Canada has indeed already allowed this regulation change behind closed doors and we are just awaiting public certification with the release of Gazette Part 2. I don't really care how they were able to get it in the market prior to that Part 2, but quite frankly I don't care! It simply means that the Canadian Government is allowing adaptive headlights afterall!

JDA_yeg

What is this WP.29 standard you are referring to? I'm only aware of United Nations Regulations 48 which is directly involved with the matrix LED's. UN48 is regulated under the SAE J3069. I'm unfamiliar with the WP.29.

Edit: Ah nevermind, W.29 is just the general overview of the whole regulatory body.

VM

Could they have gotten an exemption from Transport Canada?

JDA_yeg

That's the thing, Transport Canada would not just grant exceptions to the CMVSS. I'm wondering if these multibeam/MATRIX headlights are exactly what we see in Europe.

stanj

They are not. Just read the asterisk on the Porsche page: they're matrix headlights but they actually just work as low/high beam. So it's all there just disabled to comply with laws. Good times.

JDA_yeg

Yep, apparently the Mercedes "MULTIBEAM" on their E-class for instance only switches between high/low beams. So any cars sold in North America selling European-spec advanced headlights are simply dumbed down to just turn high/low beams... but you pay the full price for them! lol