Hyundai Mobis Develops Fog-free Headlamp

Hyundai Mobis has developed a new material that can eliminate headlamp fog for the first time in the world, the company announced on June 24.

The auto parts producer partnered with Initz, a subsidiary of SK Chemicals, to develop the new technology.

The company has already begun to install its new headlamps in Hyundai and Kia cars, including the K9, Santa Fe, Sorento, Veloster, K5, and K7.

Hyundai Mobis could develop the new material after long and painstaking R&D efforts. In the initial phase, Hyundai Mobis developed a fogging tester that could confirm gas generation at lamp parts in a high temperature environment. Existing testers used in the automotive industry at the time could endure a maximum temperature of 150 degrees Celsius. They could not reproduce the internal environment of a headlamp where the temperature rose to 200 to 250 degrees Celsius.

At present, the company’s new tester has been recognized as a technologically excellent product. So much so that the Hyundai Motor Nanyang Institute requested Hyundai Mobis to share the tester with them. "In order to make the new material, it took nine months to produce the right mix of plastics and two months to design the new material. We had to go back to the drawing board once the performances of the plastic compound did not satisfy our desired level," a Hyundai Mobis official said.