WEST PALM BEACH, FL – While Light Emitting Diode (LED) technology has been around for decades, its use in the automotive industry is a fairly recent phenomenon that is greatly contributing to the improvement of safety and energy efficiency standards of new vehicles coming off the assembly line.
When initially adopted by the automotive industry, LEDs were mainly utilized for things such as interior lighting and dashboard indicators; over time, the technology also began to be used on the outside of vehicles as well, finding its way into taillights, turn signals, and most recently, headlights.
LED technology has been embraced by the automotive industry for a number of valid reasons, first and foremost the fact that it is extremely efficient in terms of energy consumption, especially when compared to traditional halogen or xenon lights. This is especially important when it comes to electric vehicles (EVs), as the use of LED lighting puts much less strain on their electrical systems and allows them to conserve battery power to a greater degree.
LEDs also provide whiter, brighter light that comes closer to natural daylight, which contributes greatly to improving driver visibility. In addition, they also respond more quickly than standard light bulbs, which can be useful in scenarios where a driver has to stop quickly; shorter response time for rear brake lights to activate can give a larger window for other drivers to react.
LEDs also boast a lifespan of up to 50,000 hours, which is a massive improvement over traditional bulbs.
However, the usefulness of LEDs in automotive design extends also to aesthetics; the fact that they are smaller and more flexible enable manufacturers to incorporate them into more unique and distinct lighting designs, allowing them to inject a great deal more personality into the vehicles they build.
Unfortunately, LEDs come with their fair share of drawbacks as well; first and foremost, they are more costly when compared to halogen and xenon bulbs, but as the technology continues to evolve that high cost is expected to eventually begin to abate. The amount of heat that LEDs generate as well can be problematic, and automotive manufacturers have been experimenting with various methods of heat disbursement and cooling to compensate for this.
But in the end, LED technology has been a boon for the automotive industry, and as it continues to evolve it is expected to be integrated into the vehicles that we drive at a greater degree.
Christopher Boyle is an investigative journalist, videographer, reporter and writer for SEARCHEN NETWORKS® as well as other independent news and media organizations in the United States. Christopher works on a wide variety of topics and fields, has been featured in print and online in a variety of publications, from local to national, and helps keep a keen-eye on what’s happening in the automotive world for Auto Buyers Market.