April 27, 2021

Audi Reveals A6 e-tron Concept at Auto Shanghai Featuring Digital OLED Technology

Last week at Auto Shanghai, one of the largest automotive conferences in the world, Audi unveiled their new concept vehicle, the A6 e-tron. A fully electric four-door, the concept vehicle is part of the brand’s luxury-class model series. With many exciting new features, our favorite is the inclusion of digital OLED light technology in the rear lighting.

Video courtesy of Audi – Digital OLED lighting in the A6 e-tron concept

Digital OLED Rear Lights

Next-generation lighting is the calling card of the new A6 e-tron concept, including Digital Matrix LED headlights and digital OLED lighting rear lights. This is not the first Audi vehicle to incorporate OLED rear lighting, the most recent being the Q5, but this is the most advanced OLED technology yet.

Increased Safety and Customizability

The concept vehicle includes what is being called “Digital OLED 2.0” technology, panels that contain more than 50 segments per panel. For reference, the OLED lighting in the Q5 featured approximately 10 segments per panel. The increased segmentation allows for increased customizability by drivers, as well as increases safety on the road by allowing for dynamic safety signaling to drivers behind you. In Audi’s press release on the reveal of the concept vehicle, they state that “the ultrabright, homogeneous, and high-contrast digital OLED combination taillights can particularly and significantly increase the level of safety on the roads of the future.”

Image courtesy of Audi – Digital OLED lighting in the A6 e-tron concept

Three Dimensional Lighting

In addition to the higher number of segments, one of the key features of this version of OLED technology is its three-dimensional architecture. The OLED panels in this vehicle are positioned in a way that, combined with their individually addressable segments and the shape of the rear housing, “makes it possible to experience the dynamic light show not only in two dimensions – as was previously the case – but with an impressive, 3D spatial effect.”