Audi unveiled the upcoming 2024 Audi Q6 e-tron, with its second-gen OLED taillight technology. The new taillight lighting system use a total of 360 individual OLED panels built into 6 different lighting panels (each made from 60 OLED panels, or segments as Audi calls them), and is able to show warnings and signals to other drivers. The OLEDs are likely produced by OLEDWorks, like all of Audi's recent OLED panels.
Audi will ship the cars with 8 pre-configured digital light signatures, and customers will be able to add their personal light signatures using the myAudi app.
Audi has a new cloud-based road monitoring system to flash warning symbols for emergency assist, RECAS (rear-end collision alert signal), hazard warning lights, emergency calls (eCall), roadside assistance calls (bCall), and emergency brake lights. The company is in talks with regulatory authorities to provide even more symbols, including dynamic symbols that flash or strobe for additional effect.
In August 2019 Audi announced its first-gen OLED lighting technology, called Digital OLED, which uses multi-segment OLED taillight modules that can show signs and information - or just display new lighting designs. The first-gen module uses 50 OLED segments.
Audi has a long history with OLED lighting - it started developing and implementing OLED lighting back in 2012 when the company partnered with Philips to demonstrate several OLED lighting prototypes. Philips OLED unit was sold to OLEDWorks in 2015. See more about Audi's 2012 and 2013 OLED prototypes here.
In 2016 Audi launched its first automobile with OLED lighting - the 2016 TT RS which used OSRAM panels in an optional OLED rearlight module. The 2018 Audi A8 used four small vertical OLED taillight modules on each side. The modules were provided by Hella, and the OLED lighting panels themselves were made by Osram. In April 2018, however, OSRAM announced it is pulling out of the OLED lighting market.
Since 2019, Audi started working with OLEDWorks on OLED lighting technologies, and in 2022, Audi launched its 2022 Audi A8 and S8 cars, with OLED taillights produced by OLEDWorks.
The newly released OLED Toolbox includes a spreadsheet with all car models that adopt OLED lighting (and OLED display), in addition to a guide into the industry, automotive OLED insights and analysis, and more.
