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Anyone who encounters a new Rolls-Royce Ghost in the dark is sometimes reminded of Athens at night.

Since the temple-shaped radiator grille was lavishly illuminated with LED technology during the generation change of the luxury sedan in 2020, it has shone on the street like the Acropolis over the city.

This means that Rolls-Royce is right on trend, says Frank Huber, who is responsible for the lighting division at the supplier Hella in Lippstadt: “We can clearly feel that manufacturers are more than ever looking for innovative lighting solutions to give their vehicles a unique character. "

BMW started two years ago with the third edition of the X6, whose option list comes up with a so-called iconic glow: As before only with show cars, design studies and wildly tuned vehicles without road approval, the Bavarians have more than a dozen in the chrome frame around the radiator grille LED installed.

Rolls-Royce knows how to impressively illuminate its Ghost model

Source: dpa-tmn

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The light pearls down on the chrome bars like a waterfall, explains the manufacturer.

Additional LEDs in the frame provide a full-surface shimmer that makes the X6 unmistakable even at night without irritating oncoming traffic.

LED car lighting without dazzling

Finding the balance between rays and screens is obviously not always that easy: The engineers at Rolls-Royce report that the Ghost with its 20 LEDs in the radiator initially shone brighter than they would have liked.

It wasn't until the British brushed the back of the polished metal lattice bars, thereby reducing reflections, that they were happy with the picture.

Such plays of light are no longer a privilege of premium brands.

When the Enyaq is the first fully electric Skoda to hit the market this year, it will also be available with a fully illuminated grill on request.

An illuminated front grill can also be ordered for the new electric Skoda Enyaq

Source: dpa-tmn

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The Czechs are killing three birds with one stone, explains Head of Design Oliver Stefani: “We are paying homage to the Bohemian crystal glass tradition.

We achieve a high level of recognition.

And we show at first glance that the Enyaq is something new, very special. "

Wide light signatures on the car

However, Skoda is not alone with this idea at the charging station.

Special light signatures across the entire width of the vehicle have long been established in other e-cars.

According to the manufacturer, both the Stromer from VW from the Golf GTE to the ID4 and the EQ models from Mercedes differ from the conventional series, among other things, by an LED strip that runs above the grille and connects the headlights.

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This is shown not least by the new Mercedes EQA, which is no longer confused with the otherwise structurally identical GLA when it gets dark and the headlights come on.

Mercedes models like the EQA have an LED light strip connecting the headlights

Source: dpa-tmn

Designers like Mercedes style guide Gorden Wagener admit that they would like to install even more light from time to time, and they look enviously into other regions of the world, where, for example, the entire Mercedes star shines in the bow as a matter of course.

It was not for nothing that Wagener experimented with hundreds of stars that flicker behind the blackened grill in the Vision EQS study.

“But the approval authorities give us very strict requirements with regard to visibility and safety,” explains the designer.

Stay away from dubious LED retrofit solutions

That is a good thing, says Hans-Georg Marmit from the testing organization KÜS: "The more different light sources a car has and the brighter the front shines, the greater the risk of dazzling oncoming traffic and making orientation difficult for other drivers."

For this reason, Marmit also warns against retrofitting solutions for the decorative council, which is officially listed as position lighting, with which accessory retailers want to jump on the trend - online shippers have plenty of lamps for radiator grills and brand logos.

Unlike the manufacturers in the so-called type tests as part of the new development, drivers do not have that much leeway when retrofitting, says Marmit: "If you don't pay attention and install systems without type approval, you risk a check or at the latest during the next general inspection that the inspectors turn off the lights completely for him. "

In addition to the shape of headlights and daytime running lights, designers are increasingly using other lighting elements to stage their models - such as the VW ID.4 in the grill

Source: dpa-tmn