Agencies
Nissan Motor Co is trialing an innovative automotive paint aimed at helping lower a vehicle’s ambient cabin temperature in summer and reduce the energy usage of the air-conditioning system.
Developed in partnership with Radi-Cool, a specialist in radiative cooling products, the paint incorporates metamaterial, synthetic composite materials with structures that exhibit properties not usually found in nature.
The project is part of Nissan’s pursuit of differentiated innovations that empower journeys and to help create a cleaner more sustainable society.
In November 2023, Nissan commenced a 12-month feasibility trial at Tokyo International Air Terminal at Haneda.
In collaboration with Japan Airport Terminal Co Ltd, Radi-Cool Japan and All Nippon Airways (ANA) airport service, Nissan’s cool paint has been applied to a Nissan NV100 service vehicle operated by All Nippon Airways (ANA) airport services.
With its large, open tarmac, Haneda airport provided the perfect environment to conduct real-world evaluation of the paint’s performance under an exposed high-temperature environment.
Although still in testing phase, the results to date have been impressive. Parked side-by-side under the sun, a vehicle treated in Nissan’s cool paint has shown yields of up to a 12-degree Celsius reduction in exterior surface temperatures and up to 5-degree Celsius cooler interior, compared to a vehicle featuring traditional automotive paint.
The paint’s cooling performance is particularly noticeable when a vehicle is parked in the sun for an extended period.
A cooler cabin is not only more pleasant to enter, but also requires less air-conditioning run-time to cool the cabin to a comfortable temperature.
This helps reduce load to the engine, or in the case of an electric vehicle, draw on the battery.
