Interesting question. I look forward to hearing if others have experience in this.

 

Given that LED headlights are not new in the industry, I would have thought if this were an issue it would be more widely noted. Audi, Acura, etc, etc have all had them for years now.

 

Good point. So I decided to Google Acura LED headlights in snow and it seems there are many of the same complaints. Maybe LED headlights just aren't a great idea for driving in wet snow.

 

Yeah, interesting. I was doing some googling and it seems that audi may include a heater in the headlamp assembly. Haven't fully confirmed that yet.

 

On the rare occasions in snow with our previous '20 Overland with the LED lights, yes it was an issue. The lenses would very quickly become covered in snow and the light output diminished, especially if it's wet snow.

 

The 2020 didn't have LED headlights. Overland Grand Cherokees came with HID xenon headlights. Some lower trim models could also option them up, but otherwise would come with standard incandescent headlight bulbs. LED headlights though, weren't available on the WK or WK2 Jeeps. Fog lights yes, headlights, no.

 

Don't they have that fan that recirculates the heat from the rear of the LED assembly to the front "glass"?
Pretty sure that is industry standard by now, no?

 

I don't know....but I guess not if people are having issues. Rivian is a brand new manufacturer, so maybe that's something that was overlooked or not caught in pre-production testing? Either way, it's not the end of the world, but I guess it could be a bit of an issue in certain circumstances.

 

How is that picture related to anything with snow?

 

I live in Canada, commute 4 hours for work once a week, mix of day and night drives.
I haven’t had the WL in heavy snow yet, but I’ve never experienced a problem with headlights freezing over to the point I noticed any light reduction.
we had similar led reflector headlights in the wife’s CRV, no problems.
I don’t expect any issues but I’ll be sure to report my findings soon.

 

We need photogenic proof

 

I have a 2020 Ram with full LED lighting up front. I’ve never noticed any issues in the snow.

 

I doubt any of the OEMs would get DOT approval on headlight assemblies that became useless in the snow.

while I’m sure its possible for the snow to get heavy enough to cover the lens, I don’t think many people would be driving in those conditions.

 

Snow and ice from freezing rain do build up quite a bit in LED headlights compared to older tech headlights as they don't run near as hot on the surface. Easy enough to just stop and knock off the buildup... If you live in snow country it's not a new phenomenon.

 

I honestly haven’t experienced this. I understand the logic behind the idea. I am an electrician, but I have had everything..
sealed beams in my XJ, standard halogen H series bulbs in my Subarus, HIDs in my fords, halogen projectors in my ram 1500, (then later upgraded to HIDs in the OEM projectors)
LED after market bulbs in a Honda Civic, OEM reflector LEDs in my 2018 CRV touring now again LED reflector in the GC.
can it happen? Perhaps.
But I’ve had to drive on brutal winter highways where high beams are useless due to amount of snowfall, for hours on end.
temperatures as cold as -40…
I have never experienced this is all I’m saying

maybe on the east coast where freezing rain is more prevalent, this could be more of an issue.

(Heres an example of one of my night drives home a couple years ago, notice that one bar of cell service too!)

 

BTW, a bit off topic, but the Rivian R1S to me is a lot like what I think Jeep should build for a fully electric Grand Cherokee. It's a really nice SUV overall if you're into EVs and I hope some day we'll see an electric Grand Cherokee similar to the Rivian R1S. I'm really interested in EVs, but I'm sticking with gas powered vehicles for now, while EV infrastructure and battery technology matures/improves.

 

LED traffic lights at intersections have had this problem approaching ~2 decades. Search LED traffic lights snow and their is a dizzying amount of returns on accidents caused by snow/ice buildup on them

 

We’re just pulling into our first winter with the WL. I will certainly pay extra attention to headlight ice this year.
heck of a time for Jeep to delete the headlight washer nozzles hey?
I honestly think it would have to be a perfect storm (pun intended) to have these lights freeze up.

 

I’d be more concerned about the rear of the vehicle being invisible to others…
Check this mechanics truck out at work today….

 

Well first snowfall of the season and it is a sticky one. Within 5 minutes of leaving my house I get a notice that the forward collision is inoperable and I need to clear the front. When I got to the office I took a pic of it and the lights. Plenty of build-up on both.

 

Well first snowfall of the season and it is a sticky one. Within 5 minutes of leaving my house I get a notice that the forward collision is inoperable and I need to clear the front. When I got to the office I took a pic of it and the lights. Plenty of build-up on both.

Were they on for the trip?

 

Honestly, that doesn't look too bad. I wonder how much light would have been if it was dark out?

 

You're right, it's not too bad and I was driving as day was breaking so I don't have good feedback on loss of light. However, in my opinion, there is a good amount of build-up for only 15-20 minutes of driving. For me, that's a short/typical trip and it won't be a problem most of the time. If I'm traveling for 60-90+ minutes, which isn't unusual, it will be substantial and something I'll have to pay attention to.

 

On my WK2, I've had the sensor on front get covered in snow and stop working, but never an issue with the HID headlights. I'll have to pay close attention this winter.

 

Took a snowy drive today to drop my daughter off at work. It was about an hour round trip and was snowing pretty hard and temp was 29º. I had very little build up. Only warning I got was forward collision was turned off due to the sensor being blocked. I did wipe off that sensor before I snapped the pic.

 

Cue David Attenborough
"Here we observe the natural habitat of the Jeep Grand Cherokee"

 

😂 I was very impressed and not surprised at all at how well it did on unplowed roads. Felt like I was driving a tank, plowed right through with no issues!

 

I'm a huge fan of Falken Wildpeak A/T tires. They are obviously an all-terrain tire, but they also have the snowflake/3-peak mountain certification for snow and I was shocked how well they worked in snow, wet or dry, for traction while accelerating or braking. I'll probably never buy another set of snow tires again. I haven't tried them on ice, but then again ice is an issue for all tires unless they have metal studs in them.

 

I haven't tried them on ice, but then again ice is an issue for all tires unless they have metal studs in them.

That is simply untrue. And it also depends on the temperatures. When it gets warmer, and there is a slushy surface on top of ice, studs can be superior, if they're fairly new, but otherwise as it gets cold the silica-type compounds in top shelf snow tires works in conjunction with the sipes, and the rubber compound is also designed to remain much more pliable/flexible as temps go down. Non-snow tires, and cheaper snow tires, including basically ALL of the 'snowflake' rated A/S tires, get harder as temps drop, and become less and less able to provide any kind of remotely progressive 'breakaway' as traction is lost.

That's a big part of what makes real snow tires so much safer: They break traction much more progressively than any A/S tire. The superior braking, cornering, and acceleration are very helpful, but the fact that you generally get more warning before all traction is lost is their greatest benefit vs A/S tires.. A lot of people cheap out on snow tires, too, so if you've not bought the best in the past, don't consider it representative of what really good tires provide.

The fact that you can also drive more aggressively, with more control just seals the deal. They make winter driving a lot of fun - something to look forward to rather than fear.

Here's a good video below, from this Road and Track article.

 

This was a good video. And surprisingly how mud tires are not good in the snow.

Off-Road vs All Season vs Winter Tires - SNOW TEST! - YouTube

 

This was a good video. And surprisingly how mud tires are not good in the snow.

Off-Road vs All Season vs Winter Tires - SNOW TEST! - YouTube

That was a bad video overall. It did have a couple good points, but some bad ones as well.
First, I couldn't get past the 2WD Tahoe spinning the rears, why not test on a Camaro or something?
2nd I didn't like how deliberately they spun the tires. You can tell by how fast that they snap loose.
I did agree with on hard packed snow/ice/cold wet wintery pavement, winter tires are the best. The small sipes really do the trick. But when I think of "SNOW" vs "WINTER" I think of not getting stuck in deep fresh snow that your car can float on, vs flying down the highway on icy slush.

 

Maybe we can get this thread back on topic. It went from frozen headlight lenses to tires. Sorry for ambushing the thread.

As for headlights, Southern NY state is finally supposed to get some snow. While I don't have a WL, we do have an Acura RDX with full LED headlights and I'll see how well they stay clear. My WK2 I already have experience with and haven't had any issues, but it has Xenon HIDs.

 

Interesting thread. I have LEDs installed in my WK2 halogen assemblies. How much cooler are LEDs than halogens? When testing my LEDs before inserting them into the sockets, they got plenty warm. Headlights and turn signals. I never compared to halogen bulbs...difference between touching metal and ruining a glass bulb. Anyways, even though LEDs are rated to last so much longer than incandescent/halogens, and even HIDs, excessive heat is still what does many of them in...especially the cheaper ones. That's why they have those high RPM fans on the back, or long passive coolers...and come with recommendation to ensure sufficient airflow when behind dust covers.

 

LED heat is on the back side of the bulb, generally, outside the light fixture. Therefore it doesn't heat the lamp fixture or the front plastic, as opposed to halogen/HID bulbs, which are the opposite. Ergo LED headlights will have snow/ice/slush buildup where halogens and HID do not. Some manufacturers are separately creating heat inside the fixtures to combat the problem, but Jeep is not, from what I understand.

I only notice buildup when it's near freezing and there's a lot of slush, which turns to ice as temps drop at night (ie road tripping on along drive from daytime into colder night conditions), but when it's not slushy on the road, the lenses are cold and there's no buildup. It's not an ideal setup, though, for sure. They should have put washers on them, and heating elements inside.