Laser lights for vehicles developed by BMW and lighting specialist Osram has been nominated for a prestigious award in Germany.

The team from BMW and Osram was nominated today for the German Future Prize for their project “Laser light technology for the automobile – with safety and foresight into the future”.

The prize is given for outstanding innovations in the areas of technology, engineering or natural science.

Together, the two companies have developed a light source and a high beam laser technology for automobiles, already featured in the BMW i8 (since 2014) and the BMW 7 Series (since 2015).

“Besides stringent project management, the willingness to implement and the constant strengthening of the customer-supplier relationship to form a lasting and resilient partnership played a significant role,” explains Christian Amann, head of Light Systems at BMW.

Carsten Setzer, head of the Automotive Lamps division at Osram and project team spokesman, adds: “We are very pleased about this nomination and the award that comes with being “among the best”. Both of our teams were early to recognise the potential of the innovation and were able to realise the shared vision within a short time.”

In interplay with other driver assistant functions and with luminous ranges of 600 m, laser light technology significantly enhances the driver‘s field of vision at night, thus increasing traffic safety. At the same time, BMW and Osram have developed an integrated safety system that prevents the emission of blue laser light in the event of a malfunction, an accident or manual manipulation. This is guaranteed by several redundant safety mechanisms.

The sustainable and successful establishment of laser technology in road traffic requires a high degree of utilisation. Therefore, the current developments of BMW and Osram in the field of light technology for automobiles are aimed at reducing costs and the simplification of modular construction. At the same time, both companies are working on the interplay between safety, comfort, energy efficiency and design. For this purpose, Osram has already developed further generations of laser technology, which are shortly also to be installed in other vehicle models.

BMW plans to equip several vehicle series being revised over the next few years with laser light.

BMW is the leading premium car manufacturer, Osram the leading supplier in the area of automotive lighting. Both companies have realised that the joint development in the field of automotive light technology and the synergetic bundling of each core competence both lead to exceptional results faster and more accurately.

Now in its 20th year, the German Future Prize honours outstanding innovations in a national performance comparison.

On November 30, Federal President Joachim Gauck will honour one of the nominated teams with the 2016 prize.