Mercedes To Debut MULTIBEAM LED Headlight Technology On 2015 CLS-Class

Mercedes-Benz is working on an updated version of its CLS-Class for the 2015 model year and has confirmed today that the car will feature the automaker’s new MULTIBEAM LED headlights. The technology is similar to Audi’s Matrix LED headlights in that it uses multiple LEDs to enable high-precision lighting of the car’s high beam, so that it can be controlled in a way that it doesn’t bother other drivers.

The result is that cars equipped with the technology can safely be driven with the high-beams left switched on. Unfortunately, the MULTIBEAM LED headlights are unlikely to be offered on 2015 CLS-Class models sold in the U.S. because of rules here that state headlights need separate high- and low-beam modes. The case is the same for Audi’s Matrix LED headlights, which aren’t offered locally.

But what exactly are Mercedes’s new MULTIBEAM LED headlights? They feature special LED modules, each with 24 individually-controlled LEDs, that can automatically illuminate a road with precision-controlled distribution of a high-beam’s light path—without dazzling other road users.