The whole process creates light that’s ten times more intense than today’s xenon, halogen, or LED headlights—all while consuming 30 percent less energy. And BMW has some nifty tricks to keep that laser-derived light from blinding oncoming drivers.

The Concept Iconic’s headlights cast light nearly 2000 feet ahead of the vehicle, more than twice the distance of conventional high-beam headlights, BMW claims. A camera-based Selective Beam system detects vehicles ahead of the car—either in the oncoming lane or those traveling in the same direction as the laser-lighted Bimmer—dimming the portion of the beam shining on the other vehicle. No more blinded drivers, and no more angry gesticulations from the traffic around you.

That’s not the only laser trick: BMW says the active headlights can use the car’s GPS coordinates to intelligently light the curves ahead, even before the driver turns the wheel. And a sci-fi sounding “Spotlight” feature uses an infrared camera to detect humans or animals more than 300 feet away, illuminating them to prevent, for example, surprise encounters with skittish roadside deer.

The system can even project width markers ahead of the car, showing you if you’ll actually be able to squeeze through that narrow alleyway without leaving behind paint samples, while “high power diodes” can use the road surface as a sort of head-up display, showing driver information in the cast of the headlights.