We already know that the upcomingshift to electric vehicles will be completely different. This tells us that it will be different evenin the lighting.
Half to two thirds of the masswill be stripped out as we end up been seated initially on a battery. We are also going for driverless operation. Add much reduced geometry for lighting and wehave radical design parameters.
It will also change the dynamicsof traffic and everything else. Ourfuturist world is yet only months away in reality.
Why Cars May Never Look the Same Again: LEDs
Call it crazy, but solid state lighting opens a whole new door for cardesigners.
OSRAM Opto Semiconductors
Light emitting diodes are coming to car headlights, and the changes aregoing to be a lot more radical than you think.
Think of a car. What mental picture do you conjure up? Probablysomething that resembles a face: a mouth (the grill) balanced by two eyes (theheadlights) at its edge.
With LEDs, those eyes can go away or at least shrink, said JonathanDunlap, a project manager at Osram,who is overseeing a project to bring a modular LED headlight element to market.The Joule, Osram’s module, consists of five white light LEDs on a puck. Asingle unit, which measures only about an inch in diameter, can substitute infor a low-beam headlight. Put in two or three, and you have high beams, morelight and other lighting effects.
The small size will give designers freedom they haven’t had since thedawn of the auto age. Traditional bulbs rely on burning filaments, glass globesand reflectors. Many car makers, of course, will continue on with traditionalstyles. A car without head lamps might look like a mole to a lot of customers.
Others, however, will likely experiment. You could do a completelysmooth surface, punctuated only by a few points of light. Wraparound lights?Smaller ones? Why not? Unlike traditional bulbs, light from LEDs can bedirected with a great deal of precision.
“With traditional lights, you need a large exit aperture. With HID orhalogens, you were limited in size,” he said.
While red LEDs have become standard equipment for car tail lights, onlya few manufacturers putLEDs onthe front of their cars. Of these few, most only use LEDs as auxiliary lightson high-end models like the Audi A8.
Early adopters are already using LEDs to create design signatures.Audi’s LEDs are arranged to create a pointillist eyebrow. Mercedes uses LEDs toform a bar of light.
Joule light units will be made in such a way that car designers will beable to buy basic units and design around them. In other words, Osram will justhave to make a few basic models to satisfy a lot of customers. It's nocoincidence that the Joule name also sounds like 'jewel.' (Note to that this isanother example of a company promoting alight fixture, not an LED.)
Yes, LEDs will extend the range of electric vehicles or improve gasmileage. The LED headlights in car like the NissanLeaf consume only 21 watts of power, compared to the standard 55 wattsconsumed by a standard halogen headlight.
That translates into nine extra kilometers, he said. Osram is workingon a light module containing five LEDs that will cut the power down to 14watts. (Osram, he added, does not make the headlights for the Leaf.)
“It has a major impact on batteries and electric vehicles,” he said.
In a gas car, LED headlights can save 9 gallons of gas a year, headded. Increased mileage standards around the world will require car makers tocurb power consumption any way they can. Panasonic has retrofitted a homeair conditioner for cars that runs on waste heat. Ioxus ispromoting ultracaps forstarts and stops.
LED headlights provide an easier path to mileage improvements than anew engine design.
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