Well this has been mentioned before, but the more I thought about it, the more interested I became. I was being followed by a Volt not long ago, but I let him pass so I could see the tail lights. I really like the design of the tail and brake lights, but the actual lighted portion is a little (aesthetically) lacking, in my opinion. I would be very interested in installing my own LED strips under the red portions of the liftgate. I have no idea what the spaces there look like, or if this is even possible, but I'm pretty handy with little projects like this. I don't think my local Chevy dealer would appreciate me poking around their demo Volt; next time any of the owners here have their gate up, could you have a look at the edges? Is there any room to work under there?

I'm going to try to Photoshop something to demonstrate what it could look like. What do you guys think?

I just looked at my car. There is 1/8" below the lens and the body.
http://images.thecarconnection.com/lrg/2011-chevrolet-volt-5dr-hb-tail-light_100346529_l.jpg
http://image.motortrend.com/f/31301191+w1500+ar1+st0/2011-chevrolet-volt-rear-taillights.jpg

Also, the gap surrounding the lights allows water drainage. I see soap suds draining through those areas when I wash my Volt.

I'd be interested as well in a way of lighting up the actual liftgate reflectors. They would need to compliment the outer lights so I think just a string of LEDs wouldn't do it.

Not sure what you mean by having room to work on the edges? Are you planning to light up the whole red reflecter as in the concept car or just stick some tacky leds underneath the lenses?

The tailgate reflectors are pretty easy to remove and they are a pancake of about an 1" thick. You have to remove interior trim from the hatch, then a couple of screws later, they are off.

The rest of the tail light requires removing the bumper according to my body shop guy that worked on the car when painting the trim.

3967




Well this has been mentioned before, but the more I thought about it, the more interested I became. I was being followed by a Volt not long ago, but I let him pass so I could see the tail lights. I really like the design of the tail and brake lights, but the actual lighted portion is a little (aesthetically) lacking, in my opinion. I would be very interested in installing my own LED strips under the red portions of the liftgate. I have no idea what the spaces there look like, or if this is even possible, but I'm pretty handy with little projects like this. I don't think my local Chevy dealer would appreciate me poking around their demo Volt; next time any of the owners here have their gate up, could you have a look at the edges? Is there any room to work under there?

I'm going to try to Photoshop something to demonstrate what it could look like. What do you guys think?

V692, that's what I read into it, thus my post. It does occur to me that LEDs could be strung around the edges (inside the housing not outside) pointing inward or upward thus lighting up the reflector itself. Could look nice since there's a blackout around the edge that would hide the LEDs themselves. Might light up the reflector such that it would match the look of the outer lit lenses.

I would pay good money to get the front and rear lights to look as close as possible to the concept cars within legal limits.

If 50,000 or more Volts (notice I didn't use "when" because now I have my doubts) hit the road, we'll see the aftermarket making these replacement parts probably from core exchanges.

They have been and still are headlight and tail light assemblies for sale on eBay that could be used for prototypes.

When I owned a 1995 Impala SS, it was impressive what the aftermarket made for a car that numbered only 45K before GM decided to quit making big rear drive sedans for SUVs.


V692, that's what I read into it, thus my post. It does occur to me that LEDs could be strung around the edges (inside the housing not outside) pointing inward or upward thus lighting up the reflector itself. Could look nice since there's a blackout around the edge that would hide the LEDs themselves. Might light up the reflector such that it would match the look of the outer lit lenses.

voltage692 #7:

We had a 95 Impala SS for 15 years. What a great car. I really miss it.

Well cool! This sounds like it will be easier than I thought! I really look forward to poking around and seeing what I can do. ....I guess I should buy a Volt :)

Unless the guy driving the white Volt here in Lafayette will let me look!

Have you seen the taillights on this 2012 Volt? Check this Youtube, at the 40 second elapsed time. Do the 2012 taillights actually look like this?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M8vvKRp2Jyo&feature=endscreen&NR=1

This is way cool and it is what I thought I'd be buying on my 2011 Volt. I would be plenty interested in a mod if available.

Sorry for my absence, I've been having trouble loading the forum :(

Only the portions outside the liftgate are lighted, from the factory. I've been looking around at some different LED options to use here, but haven't found the right one yet. There are others ahead of me in this anyway. I think this would absolutely great when it's finished!

Notice that the 2011 style tail light LED lighting has prism reflectors inside, it's not simply LELDs back there, of course. So, to duplicate this look on the side reflectors would be possible but not trivial. There is likely some depth involved, a hole cut into the rear black sheet metal, where the existing assembly can extend into. Has anyone actually seen this tail light module?