Y K Almoayyed and Sons, the sole distributor of Nissan vehicles in Bahrain, has been testing a new automotive paint aimed at lowering a vehicle’s cabin temperature in the summer and reducing energy consumption 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.

The project is part of Nissan’s pursuit of differentiated innovations that help create a cleaner and more sustainable society.

In November 2023, Nissan carried out 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.

Results revealed a vehicle treated in Nissan’s cool paint has shown yields of up to a 12C reduction in exterior surface temperatures and up to 5C cooler interior, compared to a vehicle featuring traditional automotive paint.

The paint’s cooling performance is most noticeable when a vehicle is parked in the sun for a while. A cooler cabin is not only more pleasant to enter, but it also takes less time for the air conditioner to chill the cabin to a comfortable temperature. This also reduces the load on the engine.

The metamaterial embedded within Nissan’s cool paint features two microstructure particles that react to light. One particle reflects near-infrared rays in the sunlight that would typically cause molecular level vibrations within the resin of traditional paint to produce heat.

The second particle enables the real breakthrough. It creates electromagnetic waves, that counteract the sun’s rays, redirecting the energy away from the vehicle into the atmosphere. Combined, the particles in Nissan’s cool paint reduce the transfer heat into surfaces such as the roof, hood, doors and panels.

Leading the development is Nissan Research Centre senior manager and expert at the Advanced Materials and Processing Laboratory Dr Susumu Miura.

“My dream is to create cooler cars without consuming energy,” he said.

“This is especially important in the EV era, where the load from running air-conditioning in summer can have a sizable impact on the state of charge,” he added.

Key challenges Mr Miura and his team had to consider when developing an automotive version, was to ensure it could incorporate a clear topcoat, be applied via a spray gun (not a roller) and meet Nissan’s rigorous internal standards for paint quality.

So far, more than 100 samples have been tested. The team is also currently evaluating a thickness of 120 microns, around six times thicker than typical automotive paint.

They have confirmed resistance to salt and chipping, peeling, scratches, chemical reactions, along with colour consistency and reparability. They also hope to continue exploring thinner options that deliver the same level of cooling performance. The team is also working on developing more colours.

For more information about the cool paint technology, call 17373732 or contact via WhatsApp on 37112112.