Federal-Mogul introduces clever NovaLens LED interior lighting

The automobile industry is experiencing growing demand for higher seating positions but want a lower roof line at the same time. This means that passenger car manufacturers are dealing with tightening constraints to create sufficient headroom for occupants in a vehicle. It is crucial for car makers to package the interior light carefully onto the roof of the car to prevent head injury in the event of a rollover.

Federal-Mogul have come up with an innovative LED that will make interior lighting in a car cooler, more efficient and slimmer. The new technology is called NovaLens and in addition to all its benefits the LED provides consistent and even illumination without ‘hotspots’. Conventional LEDs emit cones of light that vary in intensity and have visible hot spots. NovaLens uses unique geometry features which reflect and refract light from the LEDs positioned at either end of the lamp to create visually uniform illumination from the entire lens. 

Ramzi Hermiz, Federal-Mogul’s senior Vice President, said, “Unlike conventional interior lighting, Federal-Mogul’s new ultrathin lighting with NovaLens provides a more stylish, integrated interior lighting solution. With interior lamp profiles typically of 30mm or more, the size of interior lighting modules has been a limiting factor for vehicle manufacturers. Our new lamp is just 12mm thick, giving vehicle designers an extra 18mm of space and increased styling design opportunities.”

LED lights draw less than 2W while the equivalent incandescent light will draw 10W of power from the car’s battery. This increases CO2 emissions and increases battery drain, which can significantly impact a battery powered vehicle. LEDs also operate at temperatures 95˚C cooler than incandescent bulbs thereby improving thermal management, styling and installation options. Federal-Mogul is currently in talks with car makers world wide to incorporate their new ultrathin NovaLens lamps in production cars from 2012.