“The early days of the automobile were long in the dark,” says Stefan Felber, curator

of Audi Tradition’s new special exhibition. Felber explains: The headlights and rear

that modern drivers now take almost for granted had a difficult start because, as cars

derived from carriages, they initially adopted the lighting technology of the day:

candles in wind-sheltered enclosures, which were not much more than mere position

lights. It was only with higher speeds and the advent of night driving that safe

illumination of the road became increasingly important and soon a legal requirement.

From candles to the later kerosene lamps, vehicle lighting began evolving rapidly.

headlights served as a bridge technology until the implementation of electric lighting.

The so-called “Bosch light” of 1913 was the first significant milestone towards modern

headlights. The development of Bilux two-wire lamps in 1924 enabled, for the first time,

high beams and low beams in one headlight.

But good car-powered road illumination has always been an evolving field. With

the advent of halogen technology in the early 1970s, the intensive innovation in

lighting technology at Audi picked up speed rapidly, leading to a new era in lighting

in 1994, with the first use of xenon headlights in the Audi A8.

Right at the outset of the 21st century, Audi was the first manufacturer to exploit

the full potential of light-emitting diodes: in 2004, LED daytime running lights went

into series production in the A8 W12; in 2008, the company revolutionized

the world of lighting with the first all-LED headlights in the high-performance

Audi R8 sports car; and 2014 marked another global first when the company

added lasers as additional high beams in series models. Audi continues to point

the way to the future of lighting technology through the digitalization of light,

with, for example, digital Matrix LED headlights and digital OLED rear lights.

Stephan Berlitz, Head of Lighting Development at Audi’s Technical Development

unit, says: “Lighting technology continues to become increasingly important,

with its outlook now changing. While safety remains the most important

development aspect, in the future, car lights will be able to do more than give light.

Through our digitalization efforts, Audi is pioneering a new dimension of

automotive lighting technology. Lights are becoming a medium for external

communication and interaction – in other words, an important means of

communication with other road users.” In today’s automotive design,

headlights and rear lights are now the perfect design element for car

customization, for example, with digital light signatures. And the evolution

of vehicle lighting is far from over. The new special exhibition illuminates

the current trend of digitalization in lighting technology and offers a small

yet exciting glimpse into the future.

Selected exhibits: from the Audi Type C to the Audi AI:CON

The oldest exhibit in “The Speed of Light” is an Audi Type C from 1919 with

acetylene headlights; the 1925 Horch 10/50 PS already has electric lights.

Also on display are a 1936 Horch 850

Cabriolet with Bilux high beams and a 1954 DKW F 91 with yellow fog lights.

The twin headlights in the 1976 Audi 80 GTE already feature halogen technology,

while the 1994 Audi S6 uses xenon lights. Xenon headlights were first used

in the first-generation Audi A8 in 1994. The special exhibition also presents

a 2014 Audi R8 LMX with laser high beams and a 2017 Audi A8 with

HD Matrix LED headlights, including laser light as an additional high beam.

The A8 was also the first model to implement dynamic lighting scenarios as a

leaving home and coming home function. The new special exhibition at

the Audi museum mobile rounds off with the Audi AI:CON concept car.

Both the front and the rear act as fully digitized display surfaces consisting

of hundreds of triangular pixel segments. The idea behind this is:

Car lights of the future will outstrip yesteryear’s one-dimensional

signal/warning functionality and be transformed into a versatile

of communication with the outside world, bringing added safety for drivers.

The exhibition is also available digitally on the Audi Tradition app

From late November onwards, the interested public can also visit

“The Speed of Light” digitally on the Audi Tradition app. The app serves as a

digital companion at the Audi museum mobile in Ingolstadt: Visitors receive

in-depth content on the cars and exhibits on display in text form; for selected

vehicles, there is an audio guide and even a 360-degree panoramic view.

What’s more, the Audi Tradition app offers exciting content related to the new

special exhibition from home or on the road – and beyond.