Future vehicle trends may open 'new arena' for lighting, design

Detroit — As electrification eliminates the need for what was long a key visual component of vehicles — the grille — the front of the vehicle is newly a blank slate for design.

For Covestro, one of the world's largest producers of polycarbonate, the solution is clear … or at least transparent.

The material supplier envisions a “seamless” front end, with head lights, sensors and other components tucked behind a single tinted PC panel.

“There's no obstructions, from one fender well to the other,” said Paul Platte, senior marketing manager for Covestro's automotive division, at the North American International Auto Show in Detroit where several electric vehicle concepts were on display.

In addition to concealing sensors for driver assistance systems, a PC front end could incorporate unique lighting effects both for safety and as a style feature.

“Electric vehicles … open up a completely new arena for design and styling,” said Jochen Hardt, Covestro's global automotive head for polycarbonates, at the auto show. “In the past, the car's designers were fixed; they had the radiator grille and that was it. And now, it's an open arena for design and styling and for a new signature for a brand. And lighting is a third dimension on top of function and style, a key differentiator of cars in the future.”

For self-driving vehicles of the future, front-end lighting could even function as an animated communication system, signaling when a vehicle is operating autonomously or alerting a pedestrian when it is safe to cross in front of the vehicle, then disappearing when not in use.

“While there's some aesthetic advantages, there's still the safety features,” Platte said. “If no one's driving the car, how does the car communicate with the pedestrian? So you can actually have displays built into the front of the vehicle. ”

Polycarbonate is also finding a home in the interior of the vehicle, where the proliferation of screens in place of instrument clusters and analog controls is creating a demand for transparent and impact-resistant materials.

A key style trend is displays that create the appearance of depth — the industry describes this effect as “holographic.”

Covestro collaborated with German automotive lighting maker Hella KGA Hueck & Co. on a lighting system that achieves a 3-D effect using a transparent PC-based film with a polyurethane coating into which different images can be imprinted. Covestro demonstrated the technology in the form of a tail lamp concept at K 2016 in Düsseldorf, Germany, and a version also was on display at the Detroit auto show.

The film's PU coating is cured with a laser in a desired pattern, effectively storing an image — or multiple images — until it can be revealed by applying a certain wavelength of light. Covestro calls this “programming.” In the tail lamp, the film is illuminated from behind with LED light sources and reflectors.

“With this foil it is possible to write an image, optically program an image into this foil. So it's comparable to a photolithographic process in the computer industry,” said Hella's Steffen Pietzonka, head of global marketing for original equipment lighting.

The film diffuses and collimates the LED light, and the two-dimensional element takes on a three-dimensional appearance that also enables customization to the customer's preferences.

“Just like people buy different cell phone covers for their phones, you could put a different film in [without changing the whole tail lamp],” Platte said.

The thin film also reduces the depth of the unit, resulting in a smaller package space.

Editor's note: An earlier version of this story incorrectly indicated a partnership between Covestro and an automaker in a photo caption.