Volkswagen uses light elements in lieu of chrome in new ID.4

Using chrome detailing to highlight certain elements of a vehicle is as old as the history of the automobile itself. Commonly found in a vehicle's rims, trims, tailpipe, and side mirrors, chrome detailing is a sure way to get your car noticed. However in recent years, the trend has additionally been moving towards new light elements.

“Light is the new chrome,” Klaus Zyciora explains as the Volkswagen Group Head of Design and former Head of Volkswagen Brand Design. “Light plays a major role, especially for an electric vehicle. It represents energy and electricity, but also warmth and safety. Light is a perfect symbol for the mobility of the future.”

Zyciora and his team of VW designers and engineers applied this design credo to the ID.4, creating an all-new, unique light design intended to replace chrome.

From the outside, massive headlights dominate the front fascia of the sporty electric SUV, giving it a friendly, wide-eyed anime look. At the back end, the LED taillights are connected with a red light strip that gives it a futuristic look. The exterior side mirror housings feature an additional light-related feature, housing a logo projector that emits a diamond-shaped pattern onto the ground once the doors are opened. 

"The ID.4 boasts a powerful and sporty, but simultaneously also likeable character," shares Volkswagen in a press release. "The exterior lighting plays a major part in this: it forms an integral part of the electric SUV’s design concept and stages the vehicle in a new way."

However, this isn't all that Volkswagen is bringing to the table. Customers will, in the future, be able to order the optionally available IQ.Light with LED matrix headlights. This optional package includes light modules that are made up of eleven individual LEDs each, which can be individually switched off and dimmed. These modules consequently emit an intelligently controlled, continuous main beam, always illuminating the road as brightly as possible without blinding other road users. 

The said modules are reminiscent of our very own eyes: illuminated rings with a flattened lower section surround them. These are the hallmark of ID. models featuring the IQ.Light package. Hexagonal honeycomb-shaped openings in the modules’ housings and all-round fiber optic cables supply the daytime running lights. 

The light modules in the headlights communicate with the driver even before the ID.4 starts driving. As the driver approaches the vehicle with the key, the LED lights automatically switch on and welcome them with a little LED dance. If the ID.4 is equipped with the Keyless Advanced access system, the vehicle features an even better welcome light dance: in this case, the LED modules “open their eyes” and swivel to the side, making the impression that the vehicle is seeking eye contact with the approaching driver.

For the very fist time in their vehicles, the Volkswagen brand is using 3D LED tail light clusters in the ID.4. Available as an optional package, the tail light forms a flat curve and has a particularly engaging and vivid effect. Nine fiber optic cable surfaces emit the light in a very vibrant shade of red. 

Klaus Zyciora continues by saying that “the light in the ID.4 is not an end in itself. It fulfills vital functions in an intelligent way and represents an integral element of the exterior design.”

Volkswagen’s electric ID lineup is further gathering pace with the new ID.3 and ID.4 models. The ID.3 is currently being launched in Europe, while the world premiere of the ID.4 will be on September 23. The first vehicles will be delivered before the end of this year.

Photo/s from Volkswagen 

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