well I just saw in popular mechanics that they showed how the BMW i8 Lazerlights worked see below:
(Laser diodes create three separate beams of blue laser light.2. The beams are directed through a prism, merging into a single beam 3. The concentrated beam passes through a phosphorous lens that yields a diffuse white light, which is safer for human eyes. 4. The white beam bounces off a reflector and past a clear lens onto the road. )
Cool right? now the problem is; that the light are energy efficient and brighter than the LED’s, so bright they are illegal in the USA .
Right, so the SUV’s like the Escalade tail light and head lights are very non bright?!?!?
so guys send email to your congressman(woman)and try to get the i8 onto american roads
Eh, if a car is coming at me with its lowbeams on, and it blinds me like it is some jerk with his highbeams constantly on, no thank you, far too bright for me. BMW should adjust its lights so they aren’t so bright, This would be one of them laws I actually agree with. I do not like being blinded at night by oncoming traffic.
I see those cars here in Munich almost every day, and I don´t think they are too bright, there are worse cars out there. What I know is, that because of a law in the us that a car needs to have a high/low beam setting some lights from Mercedes, Audi an BMW are illegal there, since the high/low setting is made by a computer that checks if there is an oncomig car and only dimms those leds that would blind the drive of the oncomming car.
In therms of legal/illegal, I would guess that about 40% to 55% of all cars running in the us right now would be shut down by the officials here in germany if driven here. the TUV is actually very strict, especiall when it comes to safety equipment and parts that effect road safety like lights, brakes and tires. And since they are legal here, I guess its just because of the automatic high/low beam setting. But I´m not entirely sure.