An article to help you understand the evolution of car headlights

Today we are going to talk about the history of car headlights. The first lamp that everyone thinks of is always the acetylene lamp. In fact, before the acetylene lamp became a stable light source for cars, the kerosene lamp was the earliest lighting tool for cars. The Crupin reflector plus kerosene lamp is the world's first spotlight headlight and the earliest prototype of a car light.

Kerosene lamp

Acetylene lamps emit light by burning and are easily extinguished by rain. They will produce a large amount of soda lime after burning. Using them in bad weather will not only make the car lose its lighting effect, but also cause strong irritation and corrosion to human skin. In severe cases, it will cause shock and gastric perforation.

Acetylene lamp
Incandescent lamps have been used as headlights on cars since 1898, but due to the limitations of filament technology and automotive electrical equipment systems, they did not officially replace acetylene lamps until 1925. Ordinary incandescent lamps are safe and stable, but their luminous efficiency and lifespan are not high. It was not until the birth of the upgraded version of halogen lamps 35 years later that they officially withdrew from the stage of car headlights.

Incandescent lamp
Halogen lamp is also a kind of incandescent lamp. It uses high melting point tungsten filament and injects halogen elements such as iodine or bromine into the lamp tube. After inheriting the advantages of ordinary incandescent lamp, its life span is increased by 2 times and its brightness is increased by 1.5 times. Many low-end car headlights are still using halogen lamps. It is also the headlight with the longest standby time in the history of automobiles.

Halogen lamp
Xenon lamp is different from incandescent lamp. It uses a supercharger to instantly increase the 12 volt DC voltage on the car to more than 23,000 volts. The high-voltage amplitude excites the xenon electrons in the quartz tube to generate light between the two electrodes. Compared with halogen lamps, the efficiency of converting electrical energy into light energy is increased by about 70%, saving 50% of electricity, and the luminous flux is increased by more than 2 times. The service life is 10 times longer than that of traditional halogen lamps, and the color temperature is also better. Since its development in the early 1990s, xenon lamps have been the representative of high-end luxury cars, and are still the main headlights of mid-range cars.

Xenon
LED lamps were first used as car headlights in Audi's flagship model in 2010. Since then, Audi has established its status as a "lamp factory" by making many innovative breakthroughs in the field of LED headlights. It can be seen from the saying that "there are only two kinds of headlights in the world, one is Audi's and the other is other brands" that an LED revolution is coming. LED lamps use solid semiconductor chips as luminous materials, and emit light through carrier generation and hard photon emission. It not only inherits and upgrades all the advantages of xenon, but also starts faster than xenon lamps and is safer and more reliable. The disadvantages are also obvious: high cost, low penetration, and poor heat dissipation. According to market data, the penetration rate of LED headlights in passenger cars has exceeded 60% in 2021.

LED lights
The light-emitting element of laser headlights is laser diodes, which are similar to LED light-emitting diodes. The illumination range can reach 600 meters, with higher luminous efficiency and less energy consumption. However, its illumination range is narrow, and LED headlights are generally required to supplement the light. The cost is very high, and it is mainly used in a small number of luxury models.

Laser lights
Whether it is the kerosene lamps and acetylene lamps that have been abandoned by the times, or the halogen lamps and xenon lamps that are gradually being replaced, or the "hottest" LED lights and the promising laser lights, all of them are car headlights moving towards a safer, more reliable, more energy-saving, more environmentally friendly and more intelligent direction. In the future, with the continuous development of science and technology, the development history of car headlights will be further rewritten. Let's wait and see!