At the 2014 International Consumer

Electronics Show, Audi announced that laser-based lights will make it into production cars. And Audi's 2014 R18 race car, which will compete at the 24 Hours of LeMans, will use 6 laser diodes in addition to its banks of LED lights.

How do you turn a laser beam into something resembling a headlight? We cornered Stephan Berlitz, Audi's Head of Lighting Innovations, at the 2014 North American International Auto Show in Detroit for an explanation. As you can see in the video, the basic answer is that a blue laser projected onto a diode produces diffuse white light, similar to the way LEDs work and perfect for a headlight. The actual laser projector is tiny, which offers some packaging advantages compared to LEDs.

What makes the laser light so appealing to carmakers is its potential to shine 1500 feet down the road—more than a quarter of a mile. But the technology is still improving, Berlitz says. "At the moment, the laser's not strong enough. It's at a point where LED were about 10 years ago." Berlitz tells us that, like on the Sport Quattro Laserlight Concept, future Audis will use a combination of LED and lasers, with the lasers serving as the car's high beams.

This content is created and maintained by a third party, and imported onto this page to help users provide their email addresses. You may be able to find more information about this and similar content at piano.io