[JoeReal]

And so 15 months came to pass after I bought the Volt, and I found the Intellibeam button on it, on the turn signal, covered from view by the steering wheel...

I found the intellibeam on the new Chevy Tahoe as cool feature, when my friend allowed to drive it and wished that I had it in my Volt. And it had it all along, 15 months thereafter owning the Volt.

And so I put it to use last Sunday night. Here's what I found so far...

First, it is not on by default unlike the Chevy Tahoe that I drove, you have to turn it on by pressing the button on the Volt's turn signal.

It won't turn on during day time or when the headlights are in the off position. It should be dark and the headlight switch should be on the auto position.

It won't turn on when you're backing out.

A green light icon with the intellibeam symbol is shown on the instrument panel to the top left side of the center circle when it is successfully turned on.

The headlights would be automatically on low beam when
going 25 mph or slower.
well lighted streets
slowing down and approaching intersections
catching up with another car within the far gap settings of the ACC
any oncoming traffic

The headlights will automatically go on high beam when
there are no street lights
and going over 25 mph
and you're not following anyone within a quarter of a mile or more
and no oncoming traffic.

Also be aware that it doesn't care if it is foggy or not. It will still go on high beam even if foggy if the above conditions for high beam are met, and it is illegal to be on high beam on foggy conditions.

Otherwise, it is a good feature and fortunately it is not on by default as we often have foggy conditions. I can turn the intellibeam feature on or off anytime I wish.

 

[BAZINGA]

To be honest I tried it a few times it cycled on/off so often I finally just stopped using it. On paper it sounds like a useful feature but in practice it's frustrating.

 

[scottf200]

And so 15 months came to pass after I bought the Volt, and I found the Intellibeam button on it, on the turn signal, covered from view by the steering wheel...

I don't think we have used it but my wife is mostly doing in town driving. May need to give it a try. I absolutely love the feature on our Tesla and it works excellent.

 

[JoeReal]

I don't think we have used it but my wife is mostly doing in town driving. May need to give it a try. I absolutely love the feature on our Tesla and it works excellent.

There are some observations that I shared that's lacking in the manual.

As for me, it is truly great feature as I always go night time through the back roads to the winery. I always forget to turn the lights low until too late when an opposite traffic is coming.

 

[JoeReal]

To be honest I tried it a few times it cycled on/off so often I finally just stopped using it. On paper it sounds like a useful feature but in practice it's frustrating.

It really depends where you're driving. For example in some streets with sparse lighting, it can go on and off annoyingly.

But in stretches of unlit back roads I would have farther visibility, and no more mad drivers blinking their lights and honking at me if I forget to switch to low beam.

Simply turn it off if you're back in the city with sparse lights. Our city and residential areas have well lighted streets that the Intellibeam is in the low beam position all the time, anyway, the speed limit is also 25 mph, the minimum speed required to switch automatically to high beam.