A new lighting technology integrates with the car’s plastic body panels to offer new capabilities and unconventional designs.
The lighting from Magna, a leading automotive supplier, is invisible when not in use. It uses a conventional LED shined through polycarbonate or other thermoplastic materials that can be used in automotive body panels.
The technology is perhaps appropriately named, “Breakthrough Lighting.” It can work with brake lights, turn signals and backup lights. Magna recently showed a prototype in a rear liftgate, which it called “Litgate” as shown below.
Since the lighting “disappears” when not in use, it can be used for vehicle to vehicle (V2V) communication or messaging to pedestrians or even displaying advertising messages in vehicles.
Magna achieves this new versatile lighting by drilling microscopic holes that are then clear coated so they cannot be felt to the touch. Thousands of these holes can appear as a single lighting element.
Magna says “Breakthough Lighting” will be ready for production next year.
The technology is street legal due to new rules by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) for adaptive matrix LED headlights. Approved earlier this year, the rules may pave the way for other new lighting technologies, said MotorAuthority.
Magna operates in 28 countries with over 160,000 employees. Its network includes 340 manufacturing operations and 89 product development, engineering and sales centers.
See a video of Magna technology here.
Source: The Detroit Bureau, Magna, MotorAuthority
