German automaker BMW is now offering new laser headlights on its cars, starting with the 2015 i8 sports car, which has just entered production and due on sale later this year priced from 135,925 dollars with shipping.
Laser light is a different kind of light to that of regular light, as it's monochromatic-the light being produced only has one wavelength, rather than a color spectrum.
As a result the light can potentially be far more intense, reaching as far as 600 meters or double the range of LEDs, and the beam pattern can be controlled very precisely, instantly and safely, Discovery News reported.
In addition, laser lights consume around 30 percent less energy than already highly power-saving LEDs and the diodes, the actual lighting units, are ten times smaller.
This helps to save not only available installation space inside the headlight, but also weight-the size of the reflector surface can be reduced by a factor of up to ten vs. LEDs.
While other automakers have promised to deliver the technology, BMW is the first to actually offer it on one of its cars.
Note, the standard i8 is equipped with full LED headlights. BMW is offering the laser light as option, and only for the high-beam at present.
