BMW was the first bike manufacturer to have LED headlights and now it looks like being the first to have laser lights. The German manufacturer will start by adding the laser headlights to their cars, but BMW MC Magazine reports that future BMW motorcycles may also get the compact and lightweight technology.
BMW Laserlight in i8BMW says that when added to LED headlights, their “Laserlight” technology doubles illumination to 600m, is 30% more energy efficient, while weight and reflector size is 10% of LEDs. All of these factors make it ideal for motorcycles where visibility, weight and size are important. BMW states that the light from a laser headlamp is “extremely bright, similar to daylight, which is perceived by the human eye as pleasant”. A laser headlight consists of several high-performance diodes that emit a strongly bundled beam via special lenses on to a fluorescent phosphorus substance inside the headlamp that “amplifies” the beam.
Laserlight will be included first in the new i8 sportscar, BMW says other models will be equipped with this “future-oriented laser light system”. While they don’t mention motorcycles specifically, BMW Group Australia product communications manager Scott Croaker offers some hope. “This is the first application of laser lights in the automotive field going into production, so the technology is really still in its infancy,” he says. “We can only speculate that the technology will filter down through the range into other models and possibly motorcycles eventually although on what and when is still unknown.”