Very doubtful they would make a huge difference, as others have suggested.
Take for example that the headlights in a typical car are ~70W (according to a quick google search)...and an LED will probably be ~ 8x more efficient for a similar amount of light, it would draw ~ 10W, so you have a net savings of ~60W.
So, ~ 60W savings x2 = 120W less power draw (or 0.12 kWh per hour of run time), so over 10 hours of run time that would be a 'savings' of ~1.2 kWh....but thats assuming you drive 10 hours, and that is a bit misleading since you cant drive a volt on battery only for 10 straight hours...well, unless your name is Ari_c!!!
So, realistically if you start out at night in a gen1 with a full battery charge you can probably drive for ~ 45 min before the battery is fully depleted (assuming travelling at 60 mph on a highway).
Over that 45 min, you'll 'save' around 0.09 kWh of energy. Assuming you are driving 'normally' and get around 4 miles/kWh that would mean that you can go an additional 0.36 miles per charge with LED headlights at night (or around 575 meters for those of us on the metric system)......
I think my math/logic is correct, but feel free to point out if I've made a mistake....it was a fun to think about at least, so thanks for posting the question....I actually would have thought it would have been less than that even
Edit: Damn, in the time it took me to write this 3 others responded
Take for example that the headlights in a typical car are ~70W (according to a quick google search)...and an LED will probably be ~ 8x more efficient for a similar amount of light, it would draw ~ 10W, so you have a net savings of ~60W.
So, ~ 60W savings x2 = 120W less power draw (or 0.12 kWh per hour of run time), so over 10 hours of run time that would be a 'savings' of ~1.2 kWh....but thats assuming you drive 10 hours, and that is a bit misleading since you cant drive a volt on battery only for 10 straight hours...well, unless your name is Ari_c!!!
So, realistically if you start out at night in a gen1 with a full battery charge you can probably drive for ~ 45 min before the battery is fully depleted (assuming travelling at 60 mph on a highway).
Over that 45 min, you'll 'save' around 0.09 kWh of energy. Assuming you are driving 'normally' and get around 4 miles/kWh that would mean that you can go an additional 0.36 miles per charge with LED headlights at night (or around 575 meters for those of us on the metric system)......
I think my math/logic is correct, but feel free to point out if I've made a mistake....it was a fun to think about at least, so thanks for posting the question....I actually would have thought it would have been less than that even
Edit: Damn, in the time it took me to write this 3 others responded
