Recently, Japanese automaker Nissan Motor Co. announced that they have developed a new type of paint that can significantly reduce the temperature inside vehicles parked under direct sunlight.
Nissan minivan.
The company stated that this coating can help limit temperature increases not only on the car’s exterior but also inside the vehicle when exposed to direct sunlight.
Tests have shown that the surface of a car coated with this innovative paint is up to 12 degrees cooler compared to vehicles using conventional paint, and the temperature at the driver’s seat also drops by 5 degrees. This is due to the paint’s ability to recreate a process known as radiative cooling on the painted surface. A typical example of radiative cooling is the phenomenon where the ground releases heat to cool down.
To develop this paint, Nissan collaborated with Chinese company Radi-Cool, which specializes in manufacturing materials and technologies for radiative cooling.
Nissan emphasized that reducing the temperature inside the car will help decrease energy consumption related to air conditioning. However, there is still a challenge because this paint is six times thicker than the standard coating on vehicle exteriors, and it is also more expensive, which increases the overall cost of a new vehicle.
This makes it currently difficult for this coating material to be used in mass-produced passenger cars. For this reason, initially, Nissan is looking to commercialize this paint on ambulances and other specialized vehicles while seeking to improve the product for broader applications.
