In this day and age with higher gas prices, looming CAFE standards and the threat of global warming, automakers are trying to improve fuel-mileage any way they can. Some companies are turning to hybrids, others to diesel and then you have some that are using different headlights.
Ok, so headlights and fuel-economy aren’t usually brought up in conversation together, but, according to Ford’s senior staff technology specialist Mahendra Dassanayake, about 5% of fuel consumption goes directly toward powering a vehicle’s interior and exterior lights. Because of this, Ford has setup a garage-sized laboratory, including a 5,000 watt overhead light that can mimic any lighting condition on earth, where it can evaluate a vehicle’s interior and exterior lights.
Ford is largely experimenting with the difference between LEDs and regular bulbs, such as incandescent, halogen and fluorescent. LEDs have been proven to last twice as long as their counterparts but are about 10 times more expensive. However, LED equipped vehicles save about a gallon of gas a week over cars with conventional bulbs, according to the Detroit Free Press.
Several cars already use LED headlights, as well as a few upcoming models, such as the Audi A8, Cadillac CTS, Chrysler’s minivans, the new Ford Flex and Lexus LS, albeit not for increased economy, but rather for their clear, bright light as well as their upscale look.
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08/23, 4:27 PM
posted by:
LightSpeed
ford owning again
08/23, 4:35 PM
posted by:
RicardoHead
50 gallons a year times about 200 million cars in teh USA is 10 billion gallons of gas. Not bad.
Of course, the state revenue coffers will take notice that it means 6.5 billion in tax revenue is missing, and they will raise gas taxes accordingly to penalize the common man …. again.
08/23, 4:46 PM
posted by:
A4
several luxury cars? actually more like the two you named. “a few” would have been a better choice of words
08/23, 5:22 PM
posted by:
Piablo
Ricardo Head – Bingo.
I’m curious if anyone has ever bothered to develop a steam driven alternator instead of one that clamps onto the belt drive. Have it running off a modified radiator. Around 50% of the energy from the combustion cycle is lost due to heat dissipation. Of course, the vehicle has to heat up so maybe it’s a dual system with the typical alternator shutting off once the system is at temp.
I’m also curious why someone has not come out with a household LED lightbulb instead of these fluorescent things.
08/23, 5:29 PM
posted by:
Karkat
Good observation Piablo. Perhaps its to expensive for home operation? Good question. The steam driven alternator is an interesting concept as well.
08/23, 5:33 PM
posted by:
///m
Good bring on the LEDs
08/23, 5:53 PM
posted by:
jJayC08
Really interesting concept, Piablo. You got it right on target, Ricardohead. To my amazement, gas prices have actually fallen about a nickle where I live… *big wow*
08/23, 5:54 PM
posted by:
jJayC08
But oh yeah, LLN… stop with the opinions, we have comments for that.
08/23, 6:15 PM
posted by:
F00_13
Good thought on the alternator, Piablo. Sounds like the weight of adding that system could negate the amount of fuel saved from doing such a thing. On the lightbulbs…
http://www.ccrane.com/lights/led-light-bulbs/index.aspx
They’re really expensive.
08/23, 6:49 PM
posted by:
kosai03
Actually, there are household LED bulbs.
08/23, 6:54 PM
posted by:
1c3d0g
RicardoHead: sad but true, man.
This is a great idea, Ford. Just do it!
08/23, 9:45 PM
posted by:
AMGoff
combine this with nissan’s revolutionary mileage gauge and you can save the world…
08/23, 9:57 PM
posted by:
deutschetouring1337
Ok once again here I come to set it straight. The Audi LED A8 headlamps are for Day running Lamps not actual headlamps. Audi did have 5 Luxeon LED style headlamps for use in the B6 Audi DTM car for night use for testing. The problem with LEDs is they have to be arranged in an angled array with some LEDS haveing as much as a 45degree spec which cause glare. The rest are taillamps and such. But the funny thing is guess who used LED FIRST for indicator lighting…..Hyundai, in the Sonata then Merc, BMW, and Honda for 2004.
08/24, 1:21 AM
posted by:
Commodore
Lol AMGoff…..its impossible fo me to understand why some people think that way. but hey, in this case I’m all for LEDs simply because they look really modern
08/24, 2:01 AM
posted by:
Veda
Modern or bling-bling? LOL
08/24, 9:39 AM
posted by:
Tree
“Several cars already use LED headlights” Like what? The LS 600 hL, which came out only weeks ago, and it was the first ever to use them, and anything else? The R8’s are only running lights, not headlights.
08/24, 10:12 AM
posted by:
jJayC08
I want to mention, a problem that many of you probably have as well…
Ever been going down a dark road, when all of a sudden some guy who think LED lights are cool in his pimped out car has them shining bright as the sun?
Yeah, generally speaking the things are such a color that it blinds drivers, and it’s been of safety concern as of lately. If automanufacturers could make them a slightly more yellow color, or drivers be responsible enough to turn them down when they see an upcoming driver, it wouldn’t be such a problem. That’s when the responsibility factor of safety comes in; we wouldn’t have such a dire need for airbags if people were more careful. There will always be ice, nails in the road, and other factors, but think about how many accidents are caused by stupid f*cks?
08/24, 2:28 PM
posted by:
maximus
any gas savings in lights is being offset by my battery draining stereo.
08/25, 10:13 AM
posted by:
LamborghiniZ
The writing style of this article, especially in the opening words, is way different from normal LLN “strictly business” ****. Interesting.
08/26, 2:22 AM
posted by:
Got Handling?
“upscale look”? so they look proportionally larger?
06/02, 12:14 AM
posted by:
A4
uhh no i havent jJayC08… except ****ing cop cars who are always lit up like LED christmas trees, getting hard ons for the massive amount of expensive lights the taxpayers pay for. other than that – no.