The DVN study released today examines the current and developing trends in exterior automotive lighting technologies and forecasts of the roadmap to 2025. We present our findings and views based on in-house DVN expertise and viewpoints and data collected from the automotive lighting community.
Exterior lighting is increasingly used to effect and accentuate differentiation in styling. As in architecture, it has a high emotional impact on individuals and therefore it is a highly effective lever in car design.
Light Sources
Halogen will remain with us after 2025 for low-cost cars and emerging markets.
HID will decrease at a pace noticeably quickening from the 2017-’18 timeframe. By 2020 HID will have only marginal presence, and will likely disappear by 2025.
LED for headlighting is expected to take a major market share by 2020, increasingly supplanting halogen and HID. This technology shift is being driven by high investments in high-power LEDs and associated equipment in general lighting and display applications, wherein the main parameters are the same as in automotive: luminous efficacy and thermal resistance. Both factors will continue to significantly improve, and at the same time costs will continue to drop.
Laser for headlighting will start this year with relatively easy-to-implement functions like high beam. The technology drivers are superior luminance, scalable lumen package and easy optical control making it eventually optimal for even complicated ADB functions. In the foreseeable future, hybrid laser/LED systems may be the solution of choice.
OLED technology will bring new styling potential to signal lighting. Starting 2015 with simple functions, transparent and 3D shapes after 2018 may broaden OLED applications.
Front Lighting
LED headlamps are the starting point for the coming decades in automotive lighting.
LEDs are rapidly becoming a must for headlamps considered up-to-date. Companies are developing solutions with rapidly advancing performance, efficiency, styling, and affordability to fulfill the needs of all vehicle segments.