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Nissan Develops a Self-Cleaning Car
Hugh Pickens DOT Com (2995471) writes "Nicole Arce reports at Tech Times that engineers at Nissan are using a 'super-hydrophobic' and 'oleophobic' paint finish called Ultra-Ever Dry on the new Nissan Note supermini that can repel water and oils, as well as dirt, dust, mud and grit. The paint uses nanotechnology to create a thin air shield above the surface of the car that makes rain, road spray, frost, sleet and standing water roll off the car without tainting its surface at all. 'By creating a protective layer of air between the paint and environment, it effectively stops standing water and road spray from creating dirty marks on the car's surface,' says Nissan's press release. Nissan says it has no plans of making the special paint job a standard on factory models but it will consider offering the self-cleaning paint as an aftermarket option. Nissan is now attempting to determine if the material is durable for long-term use on vehicles — and if it will hold up in different weather conditions around the globe. The Japanese automaker plans to test its custom technology this summer in Europe, with researchers based in its England technical facility using a Versa Note for testing."
...for the first 10,000 miles or so. Damage will accumulate and after a while it'll work as well as an old nonstick frying pan.
Self-cleaning sounds a whole lot cooler and is a better marketing term, but it's not really self-cleaning, it just repels things. Not really the same thing.
Insofar as the dirt isn't harmful to my car (salty grime in the winter for instance), I keep my car dirty on purpose. Nothing better than a really dirty car to prevent it from being broken into or stolen when I leave it parked downtown. I just clean the door handles and the license plates.
"A door is what a dog is perpetually on the wrong side of" - Ogden Nash
I find that the exterior of my car more or less takes care of itself. Sure, it could be better, but it rains and the worst of the crud is washed off. And then the mud kicked up puts more crud on; even if I did put effort into washing it, it would be nearly as dirty within weeks. I practically never wash my car, and they last well over a decade. It's not the limiting factor in the car's life span.
What I'd really like it something that made the *interior* cleaner. Of course it's not going to neaten up my tool boxes and spare clothes and fast-food wrappers, but if it could somehow at least deal better with stains and dripped mud, that would make me happy.
I gave strong consideration to the Honda Element for just that reason; it's designed to be hosed out. I ended up going with the Fit for the mileage. And it could really use some detailing. I get my car cleaned every so often not for the outside, but because they also do the inside.
I'm visualizing a car with sparkling clean paint and an opaque coating of dirt on all the windows...
The Link
Just another day's work for AC...
Either float or sink even faster. Not quite sure how that'd work out.
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Prisencolinensinainciusol. Ol Rait!
Sure. Poop will slide from roof right onto a window.
A material that does this has been sold in the US since 2013. The consumer version is Rust-Oleum Never-Wet. When new, the surface really will not retain water or mud. But the Rust-Oleum product doesn't provide a tough surface, and the effect doesn't last if the surface is touched or rubbed much.
It might make sense for cars. For this to work, you need a surface that you want clean, gets dirty, but isn't a working surface. That's a car body.
It the paint works as advertised (lots of companies are working to develop similar products) it will have a significant effect on the automotive, transport, flight, rail and other industries that move things and people around:
This coating prevents the build up of corrosive materials and as a result slows the corrosion process, extending the life of vehicles, trains, planes etc. Getting road salt off of a car in the winter is a big thing because road salt eats cars alive. If a coating can prevent it from sticking to the car in the first place vehicles are going to last a lot longer.
I can see the plane industry leaping at this the moment it is commercially viable: A coating that prevents wings from icing up? Yup, put that on every plane that comes out of the factory and retrofit it onto every plane in the fleet.
The moment a coating like this can be made crystal clear automotive manufacturers will put it on windshields and bug strikes sticking to the windshield will be a thing of the past.
Architectural plans are like computer source code with a couple of differences: You only compile once.
"Maybe the car will repel the dirt and float."
Who cares about the outside, I want a car that cleans itself on the inside.
I'm visualizing a car with sparkling clean paint and an opaque coating of dirt on all the windows...
Actually, when they said "self-cleaning", I had envisioned some way that it got rid of all the old McD's french-fry bags and other trash all over the backseat flooor.