With automakers increasingly exploring new ways to use light, Sabic confirms that it is actively working on developing car window technology with integrated lighting features.

Sabic first disclosed its efforts to develop polycarbonate (PC) windows with integrated lighting at the International Symposium on Automotive Lighting (ISAL), held in Darmstadt, Germany.

There, Sabic showed a rear quarter window produced through two-shot injection moulding with Lexan and Cycoloy resins, featuring two sets of decorative lighting components: two blue LED light pipes and a white LED light guide with white laser-etched graphics.

While those elements are largely decorative, Sabic says integrated lighting can serve a variety of functional purposes.To illustrate one potential use, Sabic released a concept sketch in which a lighting component built into a lightweight polycarbonate window indicates the battery status of an electric or hybrid vehicle, from green for fully charged to red for critical condition. This feature could allow the driver to understand the state of battery charge.