Audi’s new Q6 e-tron EV has smart taillights to communicate with fellow motorists
Audi has unveiled its latest all-electric SUV in the Q6 e-tron, the first of its kind to ride on the German brand’s Premium Platform Electric (PPE), but it’s the innovative taillight technology that’s destined to turn heads.
Called Audi’s active digital light signature, these high-tech taillights feature six OLED panels made up of some 360 segments that can generate a new image every 10 milliseconds using a “specially developed algorithm,” according to the German car manufacturer.
In addition to the ability to flash and flicker when entering and locking the vehicle, as well as an option for owners to personalize the overall light signature thanks to eight built-in designs, these lights also serve a larger safety-conscious purpose.
According to Audi, the lamps can “communicate with their immediate environment” for the first time on a production car. A proximity detector can detect if the driver behind you is getting a little too close and will then flash triangular warning symbols in an attempt to get their attention.
While this may sound a bit rich coming from an Audi, since the brand’s drivers have a reputation for getting a little too close to comfort on the outside lane of many highways, the technology can also warn of breakdowns, accidents or lane blocks ahead.
This is thanks to the fact that Audi’s constantly connected MMI system can read live traffic data, pinpoint the vehicle’s exact location and then automatically take action if it thinks following motorists need to be warned.
Currently, Audi can only display one symbol via its fancy new lights, and that’s a pair of red warning triangles, which the company says is a globally recognized hazard symbol that’s easy to spot, even from a distance.
During autonomous self-parking modes, the bottom of the red warning triangle disappears as a slightly gentler way to warn pedestrians and other motorists that the vehicle is performing a maneuver.
According to Within EVsthe innovation won’t come to the US anytime soon, as legislation stipulates that taillights must be ‘constantly on’, meaning the formation of changing patterns is currently against the rules.
However, Audi went on to reveal that it is moving ahead with further lighting designs and functionality that it hopes will help its models communicate with the wider world.
Analysis: Autonomous vehicles need a voice
Rewind almost a decade and I was sitting in one of Nissan’s top-secret studios in California, where a crack team was researching and accelerating autonomous driving capabilities within the Renault Nissan Alliance.
Part of that team studied ways in which fellow motorists and pedestrians interacted with vehicles that were eerily devoid of drivers. This team of behavioral scientists discovered that even the slightest, subtlest gestures or facial expressions of human drivers speak volumes when it comes to people waiting to cross the road or exit a T-junction.
The team concluded that future highly autonomous vehicles will require some way of interacting with people, be it through LED displays, colored lighting or a digital face if widespread adoption was the ultimate goal.
Audi’s work here builds on Nissan’s early research, as well as innovations from the likes of robotaxi company Waymo, which uses external LED screens to alert cyclists and pedestrians when a passenger opens a rear door.
The German brand has revealed that it plans to produce headlights that can display warnings in the near future, as well as laser projection systems that can beam messages, symbols and more to the street ahead. It is a matter of convincing legislation to allow this. than waiting for technology to catch up.
As we move towards an era where people are relieved of driving duties, future vehicles will require innovative interactive features to ensure the smooth operation of often busy urban environments.
After all, even the most talented EVs are still incapable of a smile, a wink or – occasionally – flipping the bird in protest.