Nissan trials cooling paint to improve efficiency

A car's paint is probably not the first thing you'd look to develop if you're trying to make it more efficient and use less energy. But, incredibly, that's exactly what the engineers and scientists at Nissan are currently trialling.

Over in Japan, Nissan is working with Radi-Cool Japan, Japan Airport Terminal Co and All Nippon Airways on a trial to see if a new generation of exterior paint can help keep a car cool(er).

A year long feasibility study is underway at Tokyo International Air Terminal, where a Nissan NV100 service vehicle has been applied with 'cool paint', the hot and harsh environment found at airports made this the perfect environment to test the paint in a real world location.

Results so far have been significant. Parked next to an identical vehicle - albeit one with standard paint - the special coated Nissan sees a 12-degree reduction in exterior surface temps and a 5-degree reduction inside the vehicle.

This means that not only is the vehicle more pleasant to sit in but requires less air conditioning to lower and maintain a more acceptable temp. This reduces the energy consumption of the EV and allows for a more energy efficient vehicle.

Leading the project is Dr. Susumu Miura, senior manager and expert at the Advanced Materials and Processing Laboratory, Nissan Research Center.

"My dream is to create cooler cars without consuming energy" explained Miura. "This is especially important in the EV era, where the load from running air-conditioning in summer can have a sizable impact on the state of charge."

Key to the technology is the use of two microstructure particles that react to light. The first reflects near-infrared rays that normally cause molecular level vibrations that generate heat while the second particle creates an electromagnetic "shield" that redirects some of the sun's rays away from the vehicle and back into the atmosphere. Very clever stuff.

Nissan hopes that through the advancement of this technology, a very thin and clear topcoat of this special cool paint can be applied during the painting process to provide this energy saving measure.