Euro Tailights with Amber! GM, why can't we have this here?

[nater]

Here's a pic. I MUST have these in the USA!

EuroVoltTaillight.JPG

Nate

[Ross Buchan]

I wanted to expand on this question as well. I understand the US government has some restrictions on what domestic Volts are allowed to have based on existing laws and regulations. This is certainly true of the power train. Other items such as the tail lights with Amber turn signal lens as well Ampera wheels and some of the other cosmetic aspects of the car I don't see why these can't be sold after market. There made here in the USA. Were not talking computer hacks after all. Just about any car out there has after market turn signal lenses within a year or two of start of production whether or not the manufacturer sanctions it.

[kubismatik]

I would replace red taillights with amber in a heartbeat! I hope it will be available at some point, it would significantly improve my driving safety.

Different topic: I wanted to buy spare 120V cable (http://www.shopchevyparts.com/electr...287-p-820.html) but I got the following response: "The Volt Chargers are currently on National Hold. Would you like for us to place on backorder or cancel." Is there some design change on the way?

[Cord]

Start a new thread on ordering a charger cable and I'll add what I had to do. The e-bay posts may not be the best place as we want official parts. Might be a current thread I have overlooked.

[Bob_Livonia]

I would replace red taillights with amber in a heartbeat! I hope it will be available at some point, it would significantly improve my driving safety.

I really doubt it - the safety aspect (especially if you are one of those who always drive in "L", greatly reducing the use of your brake lights.

Back in the 90's, there was an engineering group pushing to put amber rear turn signal lights on all GM vehicles as a GM theme marketing safety. The proposal sunk like a lead balloon - they obviously failed to provide data to prove their safety point, plus it would have looked just PLAIN UGLY on many cars.

Since the red tail lamps on the Volt function for both turn and braking, whereas the amber assemblies (apparently) have different LED's for turn vs. brake, I doubt you could easily do what you want without additional wiring and software changes. Europe has different vehicle requirements than the US, and I personally don't miss amber lights in the rear at all. If the data was there from all the vehicles on the road, it would have gained traction in the past 20 years.

[Nick D]

I would have to agree with Bob - one of the first thing i do with every vehicle I own is get rid of the Amber - its ugly and clashes with the flow of cars. Sometimes this requires opening headlight cases (by baking them in oven) to pull out reflectors, using tinted lenses to hide the amber, or just changing an amber bulb to clear. Not sure why you would want to add this color to your car.

[Brittt1]

Being from the UK its refreshing to Not have any amber on my Volt. We hate it over there and usually cover with tint. No thank-you!

[vdiv]

I'm with Nate on this one. The US Volts seem to get short-changed with not having proper turn signals, a Hold charge function, an emergency triangle, a medical kit, and a fire extinguisher included with the car. Being from Europe myself it seems funny that people who decorate their whole house with orange on Halloween do not like orange turn signals. The front and side mirror turn signals are orange, but have a clear lenses. Why can't the rear ones be the same?

And while on the topic of being different, the temperature units (degrees Celsius, Fahrenheit) should be selectable separately from the distance/speed/fuel economy units as displayed. I'd like to see the temperature in degrees Celsius and the odometer/speedometer and fuel economy gauges in miles, mph and MPG. An American that drives to Canada or Mexico would probably want the opposite, still see the temperature in degrees Fahrenheit, but the speedometer in km/h.

[Flyingscotsman]

Amber turn signals are much safer as there is less possible delay working out if someone is turning or has a bad brake light. I've owned a GM minivan, 2 grand prix's, 2 GMC Envoy's, and a G8 GT, all had amber turn signals! I wish my Volt did too. I would consider a retrofit if available. Even Porche drop the amber turns for the US market, aparently Americans prefer that way. Not me or my friends! What's the feeling about this?

[QB 45]

I've always wondered why none of the auto manufacturers haven't implemented bi-color LEDs for the lights on the rear end. I think it would be neat to have tail lights that could blink red and amber alternately. They're not that much more expensive to manufacture, and you could use the same housings. Hell, you could even make the colors used owner-selectable, resolving this issue entirely.

I wonder what a Volt would look like if it had clear (meaning silver) tail light lenses........................