Now your wheels can light up Christmas, too!

GloRyder

By now, you've probably finished decking your halls with boughs of holly and pinning Christmas lights to the outside of your house, but have you considered illuminating your car's wheels, too?

Well if an American company has its way, you could soon be doing just that. And better still, you could be able to control the lights from your smartphone.

GloRyder

Intelligent Power and Light (IPL) is an American company, based in Florida, which manufactures and distributes the GloRyder wireless wheel lighting systems. The company was responsible for introducing the world's first remote controlled wheel lights.

But as technology has moved on, the company has looked to evolve the wheel light. So today – with the help of the Kickstarter website – IPL is hoping to reinvent the wheel light.

GloRyder

A GloRyder is a not a wheel, it's merely a wheel light that lives in the car's alloy wheel centre cap. They fit centre cap holes up to 2.5-inches in size, although larger sizes can be accommodated by using an adapter.

The lights, which can be set to nine different colours, then illuminate at night, helping – according to the company behind the GloRyder lights – to increase road safety at night, especially at junctions.

GloRyder

The wheel lights are photosensitive, meaning they turn off automatically during daylight hours and are controlled by the motion of the wheel.

When the wheel comes to a stop, a timer keep the light illuminated for a while, before shutting it down.

Each wheel light is powered by AA batteries, with three settings available - 'Sho' for continuous illumination, 'Glo' for motion and activation and 'Off'.

GloRyder

For years, IPL has been developing a micro-generator to power the wheel lights, thereby doing away with the existing battery unit. But realising that off-the-shelf micro-generators simply wouldn't cut it, IPL set to work on its own technology.

The result is – according to IPL – the world's first industrial and automotive level micro-generator.

What makes this technology exciting is the fact that it's completely independent of the car's electrical system and will require no maintenance whatsoever. It's also remote controlled, for ease of use.

GloRyder

Each wheel light is offered with its own customisable logo on a billet aluminium cap. Numerous manufacturer logos are available, although licensing issues dictate that the badges are 'tributes' rather than exact copies.

You can also select your very own logo.

GloRyder

IPL is relying on the Kickstarter website in order to raise funds for the development of GloRyder.

The challenge is to raise $100,000 (£610,000) by Christmas Day, but so far the company has only attracted $11,615 (£7,000) in pledges. Perhaps suggesting that the world doesn't have a particularly strong appetite for micro-generator powered wheel lights?

What other plans does IPL have for the wheel light?

Assuming IPL reaches its target of $100,000, the immediate step will be to commence tooling and manufacturing.

Then, the company intends to develop smartphone apps to control the look of the wheels, as well as a tyre pressure monitoring system. But given that the company is looking for $1.5 million to make this system work, that could be some way off.

GloRyder

In the promotional video, the company simply describes the price as 'affordable'. However, the Kickstarter site suggests a typical price of between $350 and $459 for a set (£214 - £280).

There's even the opportunity to acquire a set of Swarovski wheel lights, encrusted with crystals and handmade in Germany. The price for this indulgence? A mere $5,000 (£3,000).

Aftermarket lighting accessories have a particularly poor image in the UK, something not helped by the range of hideous retro-fit LED daytime running lights and 'Lexus-style' rear lights. Not to mention the underbody neons you used to see 'gracing' the out-of-town retail parks on a Saturday night.

But these wheel lights are surprisingly effective. Given a subtle treatment and the right car, we reckon they could look rather good. And we have to take our hats off to the team at IPL for developing the micro-generator.

With a week to go before the end of the Kickstarter campaign, it's not looking good. $90,000 is a lot to find at this time of the year. But we wish them all the luck.

By Gavin Braithwaite-Smith, contributor, MSN Cars