Japanese automaker Nissan, in collaboration with the Chinese company Radi-Cool, has developed an innovative new Heat-Reflective Paint that cools vehicles both inside and out by reducing the overall temperature of the car. Radi-Cool is known for its work in creating passive cooling technologies, and this joint effort has led to a paint that reflects sunlight and resists infrared rays.
This advanced paint is engineered to deflect electromagnetic waves, effectively reflecting sunlight away from the vehicle. However, the paint is currently too thick for commercial application on Nissan vehicles, though the development team is optimistic about its future use.
Nissan reports that the paint has shown promising results following a series of tests and temperature measurements that began in November 2023. During these tests, Nissan cars coated with the new paint were parked in direct sunlight and remained noticeably cooler to the touch. Specifically, the roof’s exterior temperature dropped by 21.6 degrees Fahrenheit (12 degrees Celsius), and the interior temperature was about 9 degrees Fahrenheit (5 degrees Celsius) cooler than cars with standard paint.
The paint’s effectiveness lies in its ability to reflect heat away from the car’s surface, thanks to specialized materials and particles designed to resist infrared rays. In contrast, traditional car paint absorbs heat at the molecular level, leading to an increase in temperature.
While heat-reflective paint is already used in other industries, such as construction, applying this newly developed paint to cars poses certain challenges. One significant obstacle is its thickness, which is currently six times that of traditional car paint. Despite this, the development team is confident that they can refine the technology, eventually offering it to consumers in various colors.
Other companies and research institutions, including Toyota, Hyundai, and a team from Purdue University, have also been exploring passive cooling technologies for automotive applications. Notably, Purdue’s team introduced a white paint in 2022 that reflects 97.9% of sunlight.
