Sabic (Riyadh / Saudi Arabia; www.sabic.com) is actively working on developing car windows with integrated lighting. Scott Fallon, senior director of Sabic’s automotive business, said combining PC glazing with lighting technologies opens up a range of possibilities for its customers, enabling new styling and branding solutions as well as displaying other useful information.

Integrated lighting could, for example, display warning messages, turn indicators and hazard light signals. For styling and branding solutions, signature lighting on window surfaces could better distinguish vehicle models, images could be projected outside the vehicle when parked, and animated lights could give welcome and goodbye gestures. Automotive manufacturers are already adding lighting to various components, such as door interiors, door pockets, side mirrors, instrument panels, centre consoles and cup holders.

In a concept sketch released by Sabic, a lighting component built into a PC window indicates the status of the battery in an electric or hybrid vehicle, showing green for fully charged and red for critical. This, said Sabic, could allow the driver to understand the state of the battery without the need to enter and start the vehicle.

The company first demonstrated its efforts at the "International Symposium on Automotive Lighting" (ISAL) held in Darmstadt / Germany, last September. A rear quarter window moulded with “Lexan” PC and “Cycoloy” PC/ABS resins featured two sets of decorative LED lights.