We love a good battle with lasers. Since January’s CES show, Audi and BMW have been engaged in a pitched fight over which would be the first to market with laser lighting technology. The automotive world has been enthralled. Or not. Today, the Great Laser Light Battle of 2014 is over, and BMW is the company declaring victory.
It all began with this announcement at CES from Audi’s RD chief Ulrich Hackenberg: “We will be the first car brand to put laser light into production.” Audi showcased the technology on a version of the Audi Sport Quattro concept that was otherwise largely identical to the one unveiled at the Frankfurt auto show a few months earlier.
BMW piped up in February. It had previously shown laser lights on various concept cars, but it stated then that its i8 plug-in hybrid sports car “will be the first series-production car with this innovative lighting technology.” We declared—yes, we weighed in on this crucial matter—that “as far as we are concerned, it doesn’t matter which brand has it on its option list first. It’s lasers locked and loaded on the tarmac that counts, and the company that has the first . . . laser headlights at dealerships wins.”
At the press launch of the i8 in Los Angeles in late April, BMW engineers told us that the i8 would be offered with laser headlights starting in November. An executive gave us different timing of September.
Audi unveiled the R8 LMX in May as a special limited run of 99 units to be fitted with laser lights. To BMW’s chagrin, the four-ringed brand said the cars would be delivered to customers “in the summer.”
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But BMW didn’t cede victory. Let the record be writ: On the night of June 5, 2014, the first eight laser-lit units of the i8 were delivered to customers in a ceremony featuring aging German entertainer Thomas Gottschalk and held at the BMW Welt in Munich. “With this laser light, the BMW i8 is writing automotive history,” the press release gushes.
Of course, there’s still the minor matter of how much BMW’s lights will cost. No price has been released, and we’re told it won’t be publicized until the fall. The eight merry customers that took delivery of their i8s today got their lasers for free.
While this “battle” has been a bit silly, there’s no doubt that friendly rivalries such as this accelerate development and deliver innovations much more quickly. We can’t wait to see what Audi and BMW will butt heads over next. Holographic wheels, perhaps?
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