"The vehicle interior is increasingly boosting its feel-good factor"

Lippstadt, 29. April 2021. Interior lighting products from lighting and electronics expert HELLA offer various options for creating a vehicle-specific interior design and indeed a thoroughly unique experience. For example, the company has equipped the new Mercedes-Benz S-Class with complete ambient lighting that bestows upon passengers a unique kind of comfort and well-being.

“The vehicle interior is increasingly boosting its feel-good factor,” says Dr Frank Huber, HELLA Managing Director responsible for the Lighting Division. "The trend towards individualisation in combination with new technologies opens up a wide range of new possibilities." As a complete system integrator, HELLA develops lighting scenarios tailored to individual preferences. One example of this is the way HELLA's active ambient lighting is available as standard in the Mercedes-Benz S-Class with 64 colours and ten colour worlds. A total of 41 light guides, such as the all-round ambient lighting of the wide-screen cockpit, provide comfort highlights in the luxury vehicle and create decorative elements in the doors, the centre console, the seats and the roof lining. Seven individual small LED lights illuminate the footwell, glove compartment and other storage areas throughout the vehicle. And also throughout all this, a HELLA control unit always ensures reliable control of the ambient lighting and a flowing transition of colour. The overall impression, coordinated down to the last detail as a system solution, contributes significantly to the unique ambience of the interior.

But in addition to all this, HELLA is also working intensively on new lighting concepts for vehicle interiors. Because, with the advent of autonomous driving, every vehicle interior is being redefined. “The interior of the car can ultimately be used in a variety of ways once the classic function of the driver is no longer at the forefront of the action,” explains Dr Huber. The developers are therefore focusing on high-performance LED RGB modules and intelligent lighting systems that enable a variety of new functions. For example, they bring about ambient lighting scenarios that can create either a feel-good atmosphere or a work atmosphere. At the same time, they can be used to communicate specifically with the driver. One such example would be the way in which illumination of a red light signal in the dashboard can visually warn of dangerous situations. This helps to avoid rear-end collisions and increases driving safety.