If the idea of glow-in-the-dark cars is cool, you might like what Nissan recently showcased.
Nissan inventor Hamish Scott has developed a paint that’s getting a lot of attention.
USA Today reports that Nissan’s European division is eager to share its glow-in-the-dark paint. The debut is being shown on an electric Nissan Leaf. It’s a type of paint that has a coating capable of absorbing sun rays during the day that allows the vehicle to glow in the dark for 8 to 10 hours.
According to Auto Guide , the paint is made up entirely of organic materials.
“The Japanese automaker is the first to create a paint formula made up of entirely organic materials. One of those materials is a very rare natural earth product called strontium aluminate, which is solid, odorless and chemically and biologically inert.”
GizMag writes that Scott took about 12 months to develop the paint and shares that it feels like any other paint job on a car. He says glow-in-the-dark has a lot of potential for being used on bikes and boats to improve visibility at night.
“This is no gimmick,” says Scott.
“This is a serious technology that is going to be used in an awful lot of places.”
Glow-in-the-dark cars are just a demonstration for now and there are currently no plans for production. The glow-in-the-dark paint as seen on the Nissan Leaf won’t be offered to customers because it’s not expected to sell on a large scale, Daily Mail reports Nissan as saying. People can have a glow-in-the-dark treatment by having a UV wrap put on their car to “enable” the effect.
YouTube views for the video have reached over 266,000.
What Nissan is doing, however, is driving more focus to the electric-powered Leaf. An increase in solar panels from drivers are being used and charging their cars comes at no cost.
Hamish Scoot designed the Starpath glow-in-the-dark spray-on coating for footpaths and roads before the glow-in-the-dark cars concept emerged. Much of exactly the same ingredients go into the coating paint as the Strapath product. Scott isn’t divulging all of his secrets, but the key chemical is strontium aluminate.
The Inquisitr wrote about the Nissan Leaf when it first came out in 2009. The cars have a starting price range of $21,510 and can go up to $27,620. A single charge lasts about 100 miles and a quick 30-minute charge can give the battery 80 percent energy again.
[Photo Credit: CarBuzz ]
