[archimeech]

I did a quick search of the forum and found nothing. For evening and rainy driving, has anyone found a LED Headlight? I've got some very high output flashlights and I was thinking that the headlamps on a car would pull a lot of power out of the aux. battery

 

[Woodsmith]

LEDs generally don't have the intensity of light or beam pattern that is required by headlights in most places.

They would need to be approved (E marked for Europe for example) to be legal.

If you found some that would would be great though.

 

[archimeech]

there's this Instructable:

http://www.instructables.com/id/DIY-LED-car-headlights!/

I see a lot of accessory type lamps, but not a full on headlamp.

 

[steven4601]

I am not 100% certain, but i think its due to the fact that head lights must appear as a single light source, not 20 leds packed tightly together. Valeo made a prototype LED headlight for the 2011 Volvo S60.
The high power led shines on the reflector which protrudes from the base .
http://www.valeo.com/pictures/VolvoS60Concept_Valeo_4.jpg
[
quote=archimeech;219706]there's this Instructable:

http://www.instructables.com/id/DIY-LED-car-headlights!/

I see a lot of accessory type lamps, but not a full on headlamp.[/quote]

 

[Bowen]

Hello,
I was looking for information regarding LED's and found that Red or yellow LEDs suitable for use as rear lights have been available for many years. Recently, white LEDs which satisfy the requirements for a front light have come on the market, and some jurisdictions have made or are considering making these legally acceptable. Very high-power LEDs are sensitive to overheating and over-driving, if the enclosure or driving electronics are poorly designed. Both of these conditions significantly shorten the LED's lifespan, causing them to dim or completely burn out, and LEDs are expensive to replace. Most LEDs have a higher luminous efficacy than halogen lights, but poorly designed driving electronics can negate the advantage....

 

[archimeech]

all of these are the reasons that I keep on reading about. I was just curious to see if anyone had overcome the issues as of yet. I think, once they do, tis type of headlamp would be invaluable in an EV due to the low amount of power used on them vs. a halogen or typical bulb.

 

[Qer]

I think, once they do, tis type of headlamp would be invaluable in an EV due to the low amount of power used on them vs. a halogen or typical bulb.

In Sweden we have a proverb that, roughly translated, goes "To sort out the mosquitoes but swallow the camels".

Typically a car has something like 100-150 Watt lights in the front and a few tens in the rear. Even if you include the bulbs in the gauges etc you're still probably not getting above 300 Watt total in lamp power. The motor in an EV will easily consume more than ten times that, if we're talking highway speeds we're talking several ten times that.

So no, LEDs won't be invaluable in EVs because they will hardly make a dent in your stored energy compared to the brutal amount of energy needed to move the car. You'll be way better off replacing oils to decrease the friction in the transmission and trying to make the car more aero dynamic by covering up the engine compartment etc. That might do some SERIOUS difference in the power consumption.

 

[Jan]

In Sweden we have a proverb that, roughly translated, goes "To sort out the mosquitoes but swallow the camels".

Mmm.. I'm prety sure there are no native camels in Sweden.

And besides, Led is only very efficient at low power levels. If the power demand increases the efficient gain drops very fast. And for head lights you need a lot of power.

 

[archimeech]

It was a thought. I have a 3 watt LED MagLite Flashlight that is very powerful. I guess I'll just go back to chewing on my camel now.

 

[Qer]

Mmm.. I'm prety sure there are no native camels in Sweden.

That's because we ate them!

 

[frodus]

I did a quick search of the forum and found nothing.

You didn't try very hard, you just gave up. LED is too short of a search term (and it actually TOLD you that), so you've got to try something else. Use google and this website, like this:

http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=LED+headlights+www.diyelectriccar.com&aq=f&aqi=&aql=&oq=&gs_rfai=

It was a thought. I have a 3 watt LED MagLite Flashlight that is very powerful. I guess I'll just go back to chewing on my camel now.

you'd need something MUCH higher than that for it to be even remotely useable for a car, or legal for that matter. Look at the typical Candlepower for a car headlight, compare to a 5W LED light..... not even close.

Just get some HID's and go lower power and higher light output than a normal bulb. They take less power to run for the same light output in most cases.

Plus, even if you could find an LED headlight, they'd be really expensive and probably require active cooling (water or forced air over a large heatsink). They're efficient, but they require cooling for the diode itself.

 

[Nathan219]

Trucklite makes 7" sealed beam headlight we used in our project they are a little pricey but they do a great job I think they use roughly 15Watts of power. http://www.truck-lite.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/GenericView?pageName=/new/PressReleases_en_US/12vLEDHeadlamp.html&storeId=10001&langId=-1
http://www.amazon.com/Truck-Lite-Round-Auxiliary-Work-81702/dp/B002TDLW8A

 

[lloydn]

Just a quick hint on using google to search specific sites. If you add "site:" like this:

http://www.google.com/search?ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&sourceid=navclient&gfns=1&q=LED+headlights+site:www.diyelectriccar.com

It will limit results to that one site.

 

[Sunking]

Someone correct me if I am wrong but LED headlamps have already entered the market. First was was the Lexus LS 600H 2008 model for the low beams, front position and side marker. Also in 2008 was the full high and low beam Audi R8 V10. They entered the US market with the Cadillac Escalade 2009 model year with both low and high beam lights. They are also optional equipment on Toyota Prius 2010 model.

But I do agree high power LED's for the most part are not ready as they do not offer any real advantage in efficiency or performance over HID Xenon. For example the heat issue in headlights: LED's produce high amount of heat at the rear or emitters which can melt plastic or synthetic housing. To combat that takes heat management of adding expensive heat sinks and fans. Unlike there HID counterparts which produce infra red heat to melt ice and snow off the lenses is another issue to be dealt with. In fact many northern cities that switched traffic lights to LED's had to switch back because the LED's would not melt the snow and ice build ups on the lenses.

 

[PhantomPholly]

Why not LED headlights? They make LED landing lights...

AeroLEDs
Aveo
Whelen (for certified aircraft; more expensive)

I'm pretty certain that somewhere among these products you could find something that would work.

 

[Sunking]

Why not LED headlights? They make LED landing lights...

Well as I said earlier, they already make them. My understanding is basic economics as the added expense of the LED headlights does not overcome the savings in fuel and added lifespan if designed correctly to last.

 

[Mandoloco]

Ya, I can't figure why thats not a common practice either?? Especiallyn on an EV. I do have a sugustion for u though. At WallMart they carry a really REALLY bright little spotlight, its yellow and 12 volt, the housing comes appart easy as pie. I like to use 4 to 6 of 'em because they are a very concentrated spot. I intograte just the lens & glass into my fiberglass project and it's a real winner.... They are adjustable brightness so I just adjust them all to full & add an extra toggle to run em through cus every time u turn off the spotlights switch they readjust to low?

 

[Wickedtrucker]

I have seen semi trucks with LED headlight kits. But not sure if they make them to fit cars or not. Try looking into finding Semi truck conversion parts and look at modifying those. Very expensive for toying with tho. 40 bucks per light atm.

 

[zaxxon]

Unlike there HID counterparts which produce infra red heat to melt ice and snow off the lenses is another issue to be dealt with. In fact many northern cities that switched traffic lights to LED's had to switch back because the LED's would not melt the snow and ice build ups on the lenses.

http://www.ledsmagazine.com/news/7/1/4 shows one solution for this issue.

 

[steelneck]

Up in northern Sweden we have started to get some experience of accesory high beams (only used together with the ordinary high beam). Today there are LEDs that are much more powerful than ordinary big extra headlights, but there are some problems with them in the winter. They run a little bit too cool, frost and snow do not melt of the glass making them useless. But some have made successful installations behind the grill where they do not see much snow, and in slow speeds also may benefit from some ICE-radiator heat.

In the winter we have also seen this regarding tail lights, especially on big trucks, big semis, 18-wheelers and so on, the rear end becomes like a brick wall of snow and ice. Old ordinary 15W tail lights will melt the snow on the glass, exept in extreme conditions, LEDs do not.