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Not only can car washes be time-consuming and/or expensive, they are a short-term solution. Engineers at Nissan are using 'super-hydrophobic' and 'oleophobic' nanotechnology paint finish called Ultra-Ever Dry that can repel water and oils, as well as dirt, dust, mud and grit on the new Nissan Note. It works by creating a thin air shield above the surface that makes rain, road spray, frost, sleet and standing water roll off without tainting the surface at all. Nissan has no plans of making the special paint standard on factory models but will consider offering the self-cleaning paint as an aftermarket option. Nissan will now determine if the material is durable for long-term use on vehicles and for the different weather conditions around the globe. Nissan has plans to test the technology this summer in Europe, using researchers based in its England technical facility using a Versa Note for testing.
How many times do you roll that dripping, glistening car out of the car wash parking lot only to hit a muddy puddle or rainstorm within the first day or two?
(Score: 2) by Silentknyght on Monday April 28 2014, @01:57PM
I thought I'd remembered reading something about this before:/ [gizmag.com]
http://www.gizmag.com/self-cleaning-coating/23409
(from July 2012)
All I can see about this is article is rather clever marketeing by Nissan.
There was another article, which now escapes me, that claimed the coating wore thin and its effectiveness waned rather quickly. I can even remember reading about car manufacturers who would offer such a coating (again, well pre-dating this article, and I can't seem to find them), but said car manufacturers added so many ridiculous stipulations that would void their statements about this coating that it was obvious they knew it was fragile & short lived.
(Score: 2) by tangomargarine on Monday April 28 2014, @02:38PM
Or are you thinking of Rain-X?
"Is that really true?" "I just spent the last hour telling you to think for yourself! Didn't you hear anything I said?"
(Score: 1) by Ezber Bozmak on Monday April 28 2014, @04:50PM
> There was another article, which now escapes me, that claimed the coating wore thin and its effectiveness waned rather quickly.
Probably either Ultra EverDry [arstechnica.com] or Rustolem NeverWet. [gizmodo.com]