A Birmingham, England firm called Pockley Automobile Electric Lighting Syndicate marketed the world's first electric car-lights as a complete set in 1908, which consisted of headlamps, sidelamps, and tail lights that were powered by an eight-volt battery. Peerless made electric headlamps standard in 1908.

Two factors limited the widespread use of electric headlamps: the short life of filaments in the harsh automotive environment, and the difficulty of producing dynamos small enough, yet powerful enough to produce sufficient current. The first electric headlamps were introduced in 1898 on the Columbia Electric Car from the Electric Vehicle Company of Hartford, Connecticut, and were optional. A number of car manufacturers offered Prest-O-Lite calcium carbide acetylene gas generator cylinder with gas feed pipes for lights as standard equipment for 1904 cars. Thick concave mirrors combined with magnifying lenses projected the acetylene flame light. Acetylene gas lamps were popular in 1900s because the flame is resistant to wind and rain. The earliest headlamps, fuelled by combustible gas such as acetylene gas or oil, operated from the late 1880s. Main articles: Carbide lamp and Gas lighting They can be powered by a battery or a small generator like a bottle or hub dynamo.

Bicycle headlamps are often used on bicycles, and are required in some jurisdictions. Other vehicles, such as trains and aircraft, are required to have headlamps. Headlamp performance has steadily improved throughout the automobile age, spurred by the great disparity between daytime and nighttime traffic fatalities: the US National Highway Traffic Safety Administration states that nearly half of all traffic-related fatalities occur in the dark, despite only 25% of traffic travelling during darkness. Headlamps are also often called headlights, but in the most precise usage, headlamp is the term for the device itself and headlight is the term for the beam of light produced and distributed by the device. A motor scooter's front with an impractical number and variety of headlamps, added for decorative purposes and characteristic of Mod cultureĪ headlamp is a lamp attached to the front of a vehicle to illuminate the road ahead.

Beamng drive cd keys