The technology war that included a fierce battle between Audi and BMW Be the first to market Laser headlights The era of high-range headlights is over, with BMW admitting it is quietly “disappearing” from high-range headlight technology.
While laser lighting is currently available with the BMW X7, 4 Series GranCoupe, Audi A5, A7, Q7 and Q8, BMW’s large car product manager Andreas Suhrer admitted that the Bavarian automaker has no plans to introduce laser lighting technology in the future. Future Product Plans for Laser Lighting.
Laser lighting systems made their debut in the BMW i8 and offer twice the high beam range of contemporary LED systems while using 30 percent less energy.
It can reach distances of over 600 metres in a narrow beam, complementing the wider reach of Matrix LED systems, by using higher density developments of BlueRay DVD player diodes and forward reflection.
Laser lights also promised to free designers from the awkward spots in headlights because they reduced the reflector surface to 3 square centimeters from 9 square centimeters in LEDs.
Laser lighting uses high-performance diodes that are directed into special lenses and then passed through fluorescent phosphors to generate intense light that illuminates the road without heating the surrounding area.
This strategy, combined with the camera-based Active Digital High Beam Assist, prevents the cars from dazzling oncoming traffic.
In the golden age of headlight development, thermal cameras joined the luxury vehicle segment in using laser lighting to detect the heat signatures of pedestrians and animals on or near the road, but they also fell out of favor with automakers.
BMW had a tough battle with Audi to be the first to market with laser light technology, which Audi first showed at the 2014 Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas (the year before the Dieselgate scandal decimated its development department), when it was still oozing with technical confidence and innovation.
BMW then rushed to hold a limited launch for i8 reservation holders, bringing the laser lighting to market just one week before Audi’s scheduled production launch.
Audi then installed laser lighting on its R8 sports car, which ended its production run.
The laser light battle has entered automotive legend, but the two Bavarian neighbors were focusing on the wrong enemy.
The archenemy of laser light turns out to be Rule 108 of the US Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards, which limits the power of headlights in vehicles sold in the US to 150,000 lumens, while European regulations allow up to 430,000 lumens.
European automakers have pushed to allow stronger lighting in the United States, and the regulatory framework was amended in 2022 to (technically) allow adaptive lighting systems like Matrix LED lights, which block light from other cars to reduce glare.
But the rule change, which came in the form of a bill totaling more than 300 pages, was unsuccessful and is not compatible with any current adaptive lighting system.
Laser illumination power has become ineffective, with its range effectively reduced from over 600 meters elsewhere in the world to just 250 meters in the United States.
“At the moment, we still have laser lighting on the G26. [4 Series GranCoupe] “We are currently developing the X7, but we have no future plans,” Suhrer admitted.
“G61 and G61” [5 Series] There is no such thing and there is no such thing in the new 7 Series.
“I don’t think it’s completely done yet, but for the next models we make, LED Matrix lights will be our focus.
“Laser lights are very good in absolute range, but the newer generation of Matrix LED lights provide even better distribution.”
The difficulty with this argument is that it has always been the case that lasers are used to cover long distances while matrix LEDs are used to spread out and block out other road users. Furthermore, laser lighting has always been used in conjunction with matrix LEDs.
“LED and laser array lights” [were fitted] LEDs have gotten better at distribution and are closer to the range of a laser, Suhrer explained.
“There are some markets like the US where we can’t use the maximum performance of the laser, so that makes the decision easier.”
An Audi spokesman said the company has no firm plans to install laser lights in any future production model, but he did not rule it out.
