Headlights... LEDs vs. Halogens

[arnis]

HID system is illegal and will blind oncoming traffic. Step1 is to get best halogen bulbs on the market.
As of right now, Osram Night Breaker Laser are the best H4 halogens on the market.
Downside is they last only 2 years but as they cost 20-30€ and replacement takes 5 minutes, it's nobrainer.

 

[GRA]

HID system is illegal and will blind oncoming traffic. Step1 is to get best halogen bulbs on the market.
As of right now, Osram Night Breaker Laser are the best H4 halogens on the market.
Downside is they last only 2 years but as they cost 20-30€ and replacement takes 5 minutes, it's nobrainer.

That depends. You can find some answers to the question "In what U.S. states are HID lights illegal and why?" here:

https://www.quora.com/In-what-U-S-states-are-HID-lights-illegal-and-why

 

[estomax]

Speaking from experience, that driving for 15 years with aftermarket HIDs in each of my cars here in WA state has never given me any problems or even any questions. I have taken them for granted. i suspect this applies to most of the USA. Just don't aim them stupid high or run 55w bulbs in low beams, i do dislike some people that run bulbs that actually blind others.

Marko

 

[NavyCuda]

My 2015 had halogens. Terrible headlights. I live in a rural area, just terrible on the highway. The high beams are terrible too.

The major issue is the voltage going to the lamps. Incandescent lamps are designed to run at 14.4vdc, but our leafs tend to be in the 13-13.6vdc area. This has a negative effect on the light output. Reflector design isn’t terrible mind you, just not enough light output.

My 2018 has LED low and highbeams and they are absolutely fantastic.

 

[goldbrick]

My 2015 had halogens. Terrible headlights. I live in a rural area, just terrible on the highway. The high beams are terrible too.

The major issue is the voltage going to the lamps. Incandescent lamps are designed to run at 14.4vdc, but our leafs tend to be in the 13-13.6vdc area. This has a negative effect on the light output. Reflector design isn’t terrible mind you, just not enough light output.

My 2018 has LED low and highbeams and they are absolutely fantastic.

Good point. The light output of halogen bulbs varies significantly with voltage and as you mentioned, the Leaf doesn't supply the 14.4 volts that a typical ICE alternator supplies. On the plus side, bulb life also varies (inversely) with voltage so the crappy Leaf headlight bulbs should last a long time.

The Leaf headlights are 'ok' for me on the highway but I do most of my driving in town. Quite often, I double check that they are on since the headlight output is so low that the city lights make it nearly undetectable.

I guess I should research what it would take to put LED's into my 2017.

 

[arnis]

Leaf does supply 14.4 in cold weather or if windshield wipers are active.
I recommend anybody having halogen headlights on a Leaf to immediately throw out OEM standard bulbs and replace
them with much brighter bulbs from Philips or Osram.

 

[NavyCuda]

Leaf does supply 14.4 in cold weather or if windshield wipers are active.
I recommend anybody having halogen headlights on a Leaf to immediately throw out OEM standard bulbs and replace
them with much brighter bulbs from Philips or Osram.

That is true. In the winter the light output did have a higher color temperature. Most headlights are terrible in the rain, especially halogen lamps so I didn’t notice a difference in the rain. Even my 2018s headlights are barely passable in the rain.

Going off on a tangent, I’m really glad the 2018 appears to have gone back go 4 lamp highbeams with the lo-hi on together. My 1994 Q45 has ece pattern, glass lenses 4 lamp halogen highbeams and they are equal to my 2018 Leaf’s LEDs. So going from my Q to the 2015 was a real shock, the 2015 Leaf had the worst headlights of anything I’ve ever owned.

 

[LeftieBiker]

I'm skeptical of the problem with Gen I Leaf headlights being the voltage. Why? Because turning on the wipers makes no difference at all in their brightness.

 

[Nubo]

I'm skeptical of the problem with Gen I Leaf headlights being the voltage. Why? Because turning on the wipers makes no difference at all in their brightness.

The other potential problem is wiring, which happens on other vehicles too. Specifically, too-small gauge wiring in the circuit, which results in voltage sag at the bulb. The H9 is a very good bulb for high beams. Based on the "dirty" color-temp I'm fairly sure the problem is that it's being under-volted in LEAF. Maybe I'll go ahead and rewire now that I own the vehicle, and see if it helps.

https://www.danielsternlighting.com/tech/relays/relays.html