Since the advent of incandescent light sources, there have been three big shifts in the appearance of vehicle front lights—four, if we include the arrival of aerodynamic headlamps in America, replacing uniformly round or rectangular sealed beams.
Now we stand ready for the next breakthrough with three elements which will strongly impact the lighting appearance of headlamps: ADB, EVs, and AVs. ADB, the wondrous function which gives the equipped driver high-beam seeing while exposing others only to low-beam glare, is mainly used in premium cars without special styling appearance. But the generalist brands which want to use the ADB technology also want styling differentiation, and we will soon see new appearances drawing attention to the presence of ADB.
EVs will bring on a new importance to have a styling differentiation between combustion cars and electric cars. Deleting the radiator grill is a start, but headlamps are the best way to make this differentiation really stand out. BMW, for example, have revealed their Vision iNext concept for an electric car: the main differentiation comes from slim headlamps and linear rear lamps.
And AVs will have new lights in new colours and with new shapes for communication with pedestrians, signs on the roads, and “I am an AV driving autonomously” signalling. As has happened with DRL, these new lights should offer new styling differentiation. Universities and standards boards are working to figure out what these lamps need to do, how they should do it, and what they should look like. Truly, has there ever been a more exciting time to be involved with vehicle lighting?
Sincerely yours
DVN President