Thought there were no other possibilities for your car’s exterior finish after seeing chrome paint, velvet wrappings and encrusted crystals? Ha! Nissan just fitted the Leaf EV with, wait for it... glow-in-the-dark-luminous-paint, so omg-the-Leaf-is-so-much-better-now!
We’re not speaking about an aftermarket UV wrap here. Nissan is the first automaker to paint one of its models in a UV-absorbing paint finish. It’s not on the options list yet, but if it gets the right customer reaction it could be there soon.
To obtain the effect, Nissan used a thing called Starpath, a spray-on coating created by UK-based company Pro-Teq. This is applied just as normal paint and during daytime will absorb UV rays to create a bioluminescent effect at night. The coating has been used to coat tarmac paths in Christ’s Pieces in Cambridge to allow people see where they’re going at night without the need of public illumination.
But apart from looking spooky and cool, glowing paint on cars aren’t that useful. It could help you find your car easier on a dark alley, although you can simply use the key fob to flash the lights, or it could improve safety by making it more visible to other road participants.
Either way, we think it gives the Leaf more style and this thing should be available on most green cars now. Imagine a Prius glowing like that, or even better, a Tesla Model S.
Seems Nissan is quite into weird coatings. Last time it did that, a Leaf model was coated in a special paint that was dirt repelling.
To obtain the effect, Nissan used a thing called Starpath, a spray-on coating created by UK-based company Pro-Teq. This is applied just as normal paint and during daytime will absorb UV rays to create a bioluminescent effect at night. The coating has been used to coat tarmac paths in Christ’s Pieces in Cambridge to allow people see where they’re going at night without the need of public illumination.
But apart from looking spooky and cool, glowing paint on cars aren’t that useful. It could help you find your car easier on a dark alley, although you can simply use the key fob to flash the lights, or it could improve safety by making it more visible to other road participants.
Either way, we think it gives the Leaf more style and this thing should be available on most green cars now. Imagine a Prius glowing like that, or even better, a Tesla Model S.
Seems Nissan is quite into weird coatings. Last time it did that, a Leaf model was coated in a special paint that was dirt repelling.