Automatic High Beams

[Newton]

The Chevy website is very slow and annoying to use and I wanted to know what features my Bolt has and I found an Autotrader article that says it has automatic high beams. Recently, I briefly drove at night in an area with no street lights, few artificial light sources, and no other vehicles in front of me. The high beams did not automatically come on but I was able to turn them on manually and they seem brighter than any car I have owned before. I wish the IIHS had tested them so I would have an idea how they compare to modern cars. Autotrader could be wrong. Is my Bolt (see signature) supposed to have automatic high beams? Do they take some time to come on?

 

[Newton]

OK, I'm going to answer my first question in case somebody else has this question in the future: Yes. My car has the feature but getting it to work is difficult. Apparently, the feature is called Intellibeam and the instructions start on page 103 of the owner's manual. When I tried pushing the button in my driveway when the headlight control was in Auto or low beam position, nothing happened. I tried several times in both positions and I did not get the Intellibeam light on the instrument cluster. I thought maybe 1LTs don't have Intellibeam but then why would the button be there? I started driving out of town at night with the light control set to Automatic and I kept pushing the button and nothing happened. The roads kept getting darker and at one point, I pushed the button and the Intellibeam light came on in the instrument cluster and, as the streets got darker, the high beams came on. I still don't know what conditions have to be met to enable Intellibeam but I must have pushed that button 30 times on that short trip before it was enabled. I have determined that the first sentence on page 104 is false or, at least, usually false. If anybody knows what conditions must be met in order to enable Intellibeam, let us know. If the answer is in the manual, it's not on page 103 or 104 where it should be.

 

[ClarD]

I can see on your copied page:
Driving with IntelliBeam
The system only activates the high beams when driving over 40 km/h (25 mph).
[deactivates when] The vehicle's speed drops below 20 km/h (12 mph).

That's why it did nothing in your driveway.

I often disagree about when the automatic headlights turn on in general, but the switch from low to high beams is good.

I just pushed the button and leave it engaged all the time.
Sometimes it dims the lights for roadside lights that could be mistaken for oncoming headlights, but usually it is pretty good.
I would occasionally like to have high beams sooner after passing by an oncoming car, but the convenience outweighs the times that I disagree with the selection. It is much quicker to dim than I am on winding roads, and it is correctly timed.

 

[ClarD]

You should be able to find the owners manual online at
https://www.chevrolet.com/support/vehicle/manuals-guides
I was able to retrieve a copy of my window sticker from
https://cws.gm.com/vs-cws/vehshop/v2/vehicle/windowsticker?vin=
I also decoded the QRCode on my door pillar, and got a copy of my build sheet from my dealer.

 

[Newton]

I can see on your copied page:
Driving with IntelliBeam
The system only activates the high beams when driving over 40 km/h (25 mph).
[deactivates when] The vehicle's speed drops below 20 km/h (12 mph).

That's why it did nothing in your driveway.


I just pushed the button and leave it engaged all the time.

I'm pretty sure the above means that, when Intellibeam is enabled, it behaves that way. The manual doesn't say that Intellibeam can only be enabled when the speed is over 25 mph. My problem is enabling Intellibeam. However, I have found many mistakes in the owner's manual and maybe you are right and the manual is wrong again. The good news is that when I started the car today, Intellibeam is still enabled so it remembers my preference. If it ever malfunctions and blinds oncoming traffic, I can turn it off by pressing the button (probably).

 

[Newton]

You should be able to find the owners manual online at
https://www.chevrolet.com/support/vehicle/manuals-guides
I was able to retrieve a copy of my window sticker from
https://cws.gm.com/vs-cws/vehshop/v2/vehicle/windowsticker?vin=
I also decoded the QRCode on my door pillar, and got a copy of my build sheet from my dealer.

Yes, I downloaded the manual weeks ago and I am curious about it. Every other thing I have downloaded goes to my hard drive and I can access it when the computer is offline. But, I can't access the Bolt manual unless the computer is connected to the internet. Why is that?
Thanks for the window sticker link. I know now that my Bolt has automatic high beams but I might want to see the window sticker for something else in the future.

 

[ClarD]

Yes, I downloaded the manual weeks ago and I am curious about it. Every other thing I have downloaded goes to my hard drive and I can access it when the computer is offline.

I have the Bolt manual downloaded and can view it offline. <shrug>

Intellibeam can only be enabled when the speed is over 25 mph

I don't know about needing to be over 25 MPH. I don't think that part is true, but the indicator doesn't appear unless the headlights are automatically on. Turning them on manually doesn't show the indicator.

I don't know if clicking the button while the indicator is not visible changes the enablement I think it remains visible once it is set, even when under 25 MPH, but I noticed that it doesn't appear unless the headlights are on automatically.

I set it the week that I got the Bolt over two years ago, and never turned it off, until playing with it this week. I have never felt that it engaged the high beams when it shouldn't, but have wanted high beams on a few occasions where it had dimmed them. That has usually been a combination of rolling hills and curves, sort of discussed in the manual.

It does light up one neighbor's house on the outside of a corner that I might not illuminate by choice if I were controlling the high beams manually, but other than that, I am happy with the performance.
The performance is better than a Toyota Camry that I drove, where the automatic selection both on and off was slower than what I wanted.

 

[Newton]

I don't know about needing to be over 25 MPH. I don't think that part is true, but the indicator doesn't appear unless the headlights are automatically on. Turning them on manually doesn't show the indicator.

I don't know if clicking the button while the indicator is not visible changes the enablement I think it remains visible once it is set, even when under 25 MPH, but I noticed that it doesn't appear unless the headlights are on automatically.

I set it the week that I got the Bolt over two years ago, and never turned it off, until playing with it this week. I have never felt that it engaged the high beams when it shouldn't, but have wanted high beams on a few occasions where it had dimmed them.

Which indicator(s) do you mean? (second, third, and fourth sentences) I'm glad to hear that it works well when it is enabled. I have not had a chance to use it much myself. Since I did manage to enable it and, so far, it has remained enabled, I plan to leave it enabled. If it gets disabled, I will probably spend a lot of time attempting to enable it again since it is very difficult to enable and the manual does not adequately explain how to enable it. How did you get it enabled again after you played with it? Also, sort of a rhetorical question, why does the manual say "if equipped" about Intellibeam? I have a 1LT and I am not aware of a lower trim that might not have Intellibeam. Maybe there was a cheaper version in a foreign market?