[Dutch]

OHM-RIDEs initial reverse light upgrade was to a 7440 LED Bulb - 45 SMD LED Tower - Wedge Retrofit. NO LONGER RECOMMENDED.
See this link for product.

This means it was a 7440 style LED with a 16mm wedge base unit that had 45 of the #3528 SMD emitters for a rated RAW output of about 220 Lumens at 6000K color temperature. However what I failed to realize is that the stock incandescent bulb was rated at about 450 Lumens, so my “upgrade” was actually a somewhat severe DOWNGRADE and I haven’t been very happy with this setup.

Also, the alignment in the Gen 1 Volt reverse light means that the head of the light is pointed straight back and so a lot of the surrounding light shines into the housing and then bounces around which I felt just made the issue worse.

Enter the JDM astar LED bulb (set of two per package) as mentioned by member Volt Gambler in his thread here.
See this link for product

This package comes with two bulbs, each of which has 144x (Yes you read that right, One-Hundred and Fourty-Four) EX-SMD emitters and claims 1,200 Lumens RAW output per bulb at 6,000K.

Given that there were some reviews of broken bulbs, I inspected mine carefully before installation. They appeared to be quality construction and solidly assembled with no assembly or shipping damage.

Swapping out to the Volt reverse light is an easy process of removing three screws and pulling part of the fender out of the way (see this video for details: https://www.carcarekiosk.com/video/2013_Chevrolet_Volt_1.4L_4_Cyl./lights/reverse_light )

NOTE: Like most LED, the bulb is polarized so if you plug it in and it doesn’t work, you probably just need to rotate it 180 degrees.

Q: Is the bulb -really- 1,200 Lumens?
A: I doubt it.

Q: Is the bulb brighter than a stock incandescent?
A: Yes, emphatically yes.

Full Review Pending Darkness <grin>

 

[Dutch]

Brighter
Definitely a lot brighter

Even lights up the neighbors wall some

The funny thing is that it is bright enough to cause the rear view camera to step down an F/stop or two so on camera...it doesn't look that much brighter on the dash screen, but in the mirrors it's great.

 

[RFE]

I am impressed wit the light output. I click on the link and used the "check if it works with you car". It said that it does not work with 2013. I find that funny considering you are showing that it does. It is on sale right now. Not a bad price for two bulbs.

 

[Dutch]

PSA - Make sure you check the source of the bulb

Apparently some folks have accidentally ordered a "knock off" version.
JDM astar has added the following to their amazon page as a warning....

Warning!!!...Don't be fooled by the fake seller and counterfeit product!!)... JDM ASTAR is the Amazon registered brand . We never authorize other seller to sell our products... Please check the seller name before you place the order... Select the JDM ASTAR instead of others who list here not identical product by lowering prices only a little to take advantage of the reputation built by JDM ASTAR . The counterfeit bulb doesn't even have driving IC and resistor. It not safe.

This is the official amazon link for these bulbs.

 

[Barry]

It is hard to get excited about a lighting upgrade in July when it seems like it is always daylight, but come December, I will wish I had this. I like the price drop, too.

One more little deficiency of the car fixed.

 

[Volt Gambler]

For anyone interested the 1156 version of this amazing bulb is also as bright and I have them in my motorhome backup lights. Haven't seen anything like it before. Here is the link for them. https://www.amazon.com/JDM-ASTAR-Extremely-Chipsets-Projector/dp/B00NPIN8FI/ref=sr_1_8?ie=UTF8&qid=1499889837&sr=8-8&keywords=jdm+astar+1200+lumens+extremely+bright+144-ex+chipsets

Lots of uses for these around cars and campers for exterior and interior lighting.