Valeo and its partner in Japan, Ichikoh, have developed a new generation of LED front lighting systems, unveiled as a world premiere on the Nissan Leaf Electric Vehicle.

The Alliance's engineers have designed a cost-effective LED-based headlamp, combining enhanced illumination close to daylight and distinctive style. While the Nissan Leaf LED headlamp is cost and energy efficient, it delivers a high level of performance, with brighter light color on the road and a longer life span.

The optical system provides multiple innovative front lighting solutions: the collector and reflector are combined as a single thermoplastic part with no lens, giving it a more distinctive look than a conventional headlamp.

With a flux on the road of more than 500 lumens, the wide beam offers a good range and high homogeneity. Thanks to its color temperature of 5500K, it has been ranked at the level of HID lamps during night test comparisons with different mass production headlamps.

This low beam module is the first on the market with efficient power consumption as low as 50W per vehicle, using only 2 LED per headlamp. The 2 LED-based design saves 30% more energy than the best 3 LED-based headlamps currently on the market (70W).
Compared with other light sources, it saves up to 49% with Xenon systems (90W) and 62% with Halogen (130W). The benefit is also very high for conventional internal combustion engine vehicles with an average CO2 saving of 1g per km.

Valeo and its partner Ichikoh are positioned as a major player on the booming LED front lighting market with the headlamps for the Nissan Leaf, the first mass market 100% Electric Vehicle. Valeo and Ichikoh are preparing for the future, working together on further innovative LED front lighting solutions.

Valeo is an independent industrial Group fully focused on the design, production and sale of components, integrated systems and modules for the automotive industry, mainly for CO2 emissions reduction. Valeo ranks among the world's top automotive suppliers. The Group has 117 plants, 21 Research centers, 40 Development centers, 10 distribution platforms and employs 56,000 people in 27 countries worldwide.