In automotive applications, LEDs are primarily used for both exterior and interior lighting. Exterior lighting involves thermal limits and EMC issues, as well as numerous complex standards for unloaded load testing. For example, the LED driver circuit must meet stringent automotive EMC specifications, such as whether the voltage is 40V, 60V, 80V, or 100V. Meeting these requirements is challenging for LEDs driven by high-efficiency, inductive switching regulators, and all precautions increase the overall cost of the solution. Headlights, fog lights, and indicator lights are target applications in exterior lighting.
Due to the advantages of LEDs, they can be widely used to create a comfortable in-vehicle environment, such as instrument panel lights, pedal lights, chart lights, rear fog lights, and rear brake and indicator lights. The use of LEDs in mixed-color backlighting and ambient lighting for flat-panel displays showing automotive infotainment information will further increase their application.
