The automotive LEDs are adopted in various places in cars including interior and exterior lighting, dashboards and rear view mirrors.

 

Headlights as the most important part of automotive lighting have been moving toward to intelligent applications by combining LEDs and sensing technologies. Following the trends, automotive LED producers introduced matrix LED headlights which LEDs are placed in arrays and each LED can be individually controlled. In this way, the light source can be adjusted to fit different driving situations to enhance safety. Projection is another featured function of LED headlights which warnings, assisting path and other information can be projected on the roads.

 

For tail lights, individually controlled LEDs are adopted for delivering information to warn or communicate with other road users. The Volkswagen Group has presented vehicle lighting systems with these interactive and communicable functions.

 

Meanwhile, automotive dashboards integrated with LED lighting are a mainstream development. Automotive LED displays are believed to be the next step as they can show more detailed information required for alternative fuel vehicles and autonomous cars. Tesla, Audi TT and BMW i8 have adopted digital dashboards with LED backlights.

 

Display panels with driving assistance and navigation functions have been integrated into rear view mirrors as well. In 2016, panoramic display rear view mirrors were introduced. With four to seven automotive cameras installed, the back side situation of a car could be displayed. Panoramic display rear view mirrors will be more popular and common as the technology of automotive cameras and sensors become more mature and the price of these components decline.