Car FYI

Photo Credit: Audi AG It's been more than two years when the beam of some vehicle headlights gained intensity in Europe. In 2014, the first use of laser lighting technology debuted on a pair of niche vehicles (the European BMW i8 and a limited 99-car run of the special edition Audi R8 LMX. Generating a powerful white illumination using an indirect shine of a laser (a laser is projected through a mirror into a phosphorous lens), laser automotive lights may represent the next progression beyond LEDs as a high-beam source. As this lighting concept is slowly becoming a potentially bright opportunity for greater driver visibility during the nighttime, North America has not been involved in the efforts to highlight the use of laser lights. The prohibition on laser lights served as a reminder towards decades where the North American standards for vehicle lighting tends to lag behind European rules. Uncertainty with the technology has prevented its availability at the initial release...

Last year, Audi shined a light on a new future of automotive illumination. Laser headlights has been promoted by the German automaker as a powerful, efficient way to light driving paths at night or low light conditions. Championing the technology for a long time , Audi was one of the first manufacturers to offer laser lighting on a production automobile (BMW pulled off a tricky move to become the very first to market with laser headlights by offering eight customers for free on the i8 sports car). A component of the limited edition Audi R8 LMX, laser lights began beaming on European roads for summer of 2014. Only 300 micrometers in diameter, the laser spot employed on the 99 existing R8 LMX provides a strengthened source to supplement the LED high beams. With laser lighting, the R8 LMX edition boasted twice the range of illumination as with full-LED headlights (the equivalent distance of five football fields. F...