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Buick Enspire Inspires Use of OLED Taillights
October 29, 2018 

The 2018 Buick Enspire conceptcrossover, unveiled at Auto Shanghai earlier this year, introduced a number of novel, high-tech features intended to show where the GM premium brand is heading. Among the features is a pair of smart OLED taillights that can communicate braking intensity to other cars on the road, so that other drivers know whether the crossover is coming to a gentle stop in preparation for a turn, or braking hard to avoid an imminent collision. Rather than using luminosity in order to communicate the severity of the braking action, the 2018 Buick Enspire concept’s OLED taillights let other drivers know how hard the driver is coming to a stop through the use of flickering; the faster the flicker, the harder the braking event. This ensures that the taillights can always clearly be seen, making for a safer commute, especially at night or in fog when visibility suffers the most.
 
 
Figure 1: Buick’s Enspire Concept w/OLED Taillights 

Source: Company

The use of OLEDs in the Buick Enspire concept’s taillights represents still another leap over more conventional taillight bulbs – even newer LED taillights. They’re more easily recycled than LEDs, and they can be made quite a bit more compact; both attributes make them more environmentally friendly than other traditional light sources. However, OLEDs may not be entirely ready to infiltrate the automotive world just yet, as they tend to have a shorter lifespan than conventional LEDs, and they’re currently costlier to produce – although with further development, they could theoretically become far cheaper. Worst of all, they’re not especially durable, meaning that installing them in a production taillight housing, where they might be subjected to extraordinary heat, cold, and moisture, is probably a no go.
 
The Buick Enspire concept is a prototype crossover utility vehicle that bowed at Auto Shanghai 2018in April. Intended as “an exploration of Buick’s bold design ideas and innovative technologies for future mobility,” the concept boasts a futuristic, all-electric Buick “eMotion” powertrain, with a total peak output of 550 horsepower. That’s enough for a 0-to-60-mph sprint in an estimated 4.0 seconds, and a driving range of 370 miles on a single charge. Fast charging can take the battery from 0- to 80-percent charge in 40 minutes.
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Additional technologies previewed by the 2018 Buick Enspire concept include facial-recognition unlocking, an augmented-reality head-up display, and a shock-absorbing structurein the seating.