LED driving lights vs. Incandescent automotive lights output

             Some studies suggest that LED driving lights provide drivers with safer night time illumination.

LED lights have some key advantages when compared to the old-fashioned incandescent light bulb invented by Thomas Edison -- including reduced energy use, reduced heat generation and increased life expectancy. The biggest disadvantage for LED lights, for now, is their higher initial cost. That price difference may slow the acceptance of LED lights application in the home, but LED technology may actually help make driving your car less expensive.

Vehicular LED Lights Are More Energy Efficient
Energy efficiency in the home translates into lower utility bills and probably means a lower carbon footprint as well. In an off-road vehicle, however, the energy saved by using LED lights in place of incandescent bulbs amounts to an increased number of miles you can travel per charge. According to a 2008 study by the University of Michigan Transportation Research Institute, automotive LED lights use less than half the wattage as their incandescent equivalents. For drivers of gasoline-powered 4X4 vehicles, that can lead to savings of five to eight cents per 100 kilometers of driving . All of these figures are based on 2008 fuel costs and lumen-per-watt performance of LED lights at that time; both those values have increased since then, which means that the off-road LED lights advantage has increased as well.

LED Lights Improve Driving Safety
While incandescent lighting usually comes with a slightly amber or warm cast, automotive LED lights tend towards the cool white side of the spectrum, and they provide a more even distribution of light within their spot or flood beams. Ordinary daylight also has a cool white cast, which may help explain why night driving with cool lighting leads to improved visual performance and a decrease in driver reaction time.

Off-road LED Lasts Longer
A burnt out incandescent bulb produces no light at all. That matters a lot in your heavy-duty truck, where poor visibility from driving with only one headlight can lead to collision. Its also a safety issue when you look at the relatively short life expectancy of brake lights and turn signal indicators. LED lights offer as much as 10 times the lifespan of incandescents, and in most cases that means the individual lamps will last as long as the vehicle itself .

Life Cycle Assessment
Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) is the practice of determining an items true environmental cost by figuring in the energy and materials used to manufacture and distribute the original product; adding the energy used and emissions created during its use; and factoring in the items potential as landfill waste or recycling into new products at the end of its practical life. LED lights distribute the eco-expense of producing themselves over a much longer lifetime, and require much less energy throughout their working life. Based on LCA, LED lights rank as a clear winner over incandescent bulbs for use in automobiles.