Next-generation OLED lighting technology is available for the first time in the updated Q5. The optional OLED rear light is split into three tiles of six segments each, which enables Audi designers and developers to create different light designs and signatures from a single item of hardware.
Audi lighting wizard Stephan Berlitz—his formal title is Head of Lighting Innovation Development—says “In addition to perfect contrast, the benefits of digital OLED are a high level of homogeneity and minimal gap between the segments. Looking to the future, digital OLED is therefore the perfect technology for executing personalised light design with a high degree of precision and extensive variability. This technology offers all sorts of opportunities for further development”.
When ordering their Q5, customers can choose from three rear light signatures, each with its own Welcome and Farewell display. On switching the Audi drive select mode to “dynamic”, the lights change to yet another signature. The OLED rear light cluster also has proximity detection: If another car approaches a stopped Q5 from the rear to within less than two metres, all the OLED segments light up—solid red. Then when the Q5 starts to move, it returns to the original light signature.
LED headlamps are standard equipment, with matrix LED headlamps available as an option.