White LEDs offer new automotive design options
The company’s chairman and CEO, Thierry Morin, said that Valeo has proven design and development expertise for LED technology for rear lighting applications such as rear combination lamps and center-high-mounted stop lights.
"Valeo is now extending this technology to front lighting functions,” said Morin. “These have the potential to achieve significant performance benefits, especially for adaptive lighting functions, as well as highly desired styling flexibility which will differentiate new top-end models by creating distinctive signatures.”
Recent increases in LED performance, combined with their small size, low power consumption and high reliability, make LED technology a realistic option for automotive designers specializing in exterior lighting. White LEDs used in front lighting applications are expected to become a prominent design feature of future top-end vehicles.
Valeo is developing LED technology in collaboration with Valeo Sylvania of North America and Ichikoh Industries of Japan.
At the front of the car, Valeo is developing position lamps, turn signals, front fog lamps, daytime running lights, and low beam headlights using LED technology. A unique characteristic of using LEDs as a light source is the availability of a full range of optical solutions that cover this wide variety of functions.
Optical lenses are proposed for functions such as direction indicators and daylight running lights, while a reflector or optical fiber light-guide is suitable for the position lamp. Other front lighting functions such as fog lamps, low beam headlights will be implemented using special optical modules to create cut-off lines required by lighting regulations.
In addition to optics, integrated control electronics and thermal management are essential features of LED front lighting.
Compared to traditional incandescent lamps with equivalent output, LEDs consume significantly less power and since the lifespan of LEDs is longer than that of the vehicle itself, carmakers may choose to omit additional design space to change an LED.
Car owners can be confident that the lights will switch on whenever required. The compact size of LEDs contributes to greater design freedom, allowing for the integration of lighting functions into the overall front-end design.
By working on a complete LED system, Valeo says that it can assure carmakers that the front lighting system is compatible with the technical requirements of carmakers diverse vehicle architectures.
