Photo/Illutration The car at left uses a newly developed paint that lowers its temperature by 10 or so degrees, compared with a vehicle with normal paint jobs, when exposed to direct sunlight. Photo was taken during an outdoor demonstration held by Nissan Motor Co. on Aug. 6. (Provided by Nissan Motor Co.)

Nissan Motor Co. said it has developed a new type of paint that significantly reduces the temperature inside vehicles parked in direct sunlight.

The surface of a car coated with the innovative material remains up to 12 degrees cooler than that of a vehicle with standard paint, tests showed.

The company said the coating material can help rein in the temperature rise not only on the car's body but also in the vehicle when exposed to direct sunlight.

This is because the substance artificially reproduces a process known as radiative cooling on the painted surface. A typical example of radiative cooling is a phenomenon where the ground releases heat to cool off.

Nissan worked with the Chinese enterprise Radi-Cool as it specializes in the creation of radiative cooling technologies and materials.

The paint brings temperatures at the car roof and the driver’s seat 12 degrees and 5 degrees lower, respectively, than normal paint jobs.

Nissan stressed that lower readings in the interior of automobiles will help reduce energy consumption involving air conditioning.

A verification trial opened to the media on Aug. 6 at Tokyo’s Haneda Airport involved vehicles used at the facility for ground services.

However, one obstacle remains: the paint is six times thicker than the usual coating on the car body surface. The substance is also more expensive, which would add to the total cost of a new vehicle.

That, in turn, makes it difficult for the coating material to be utilized for mass-produced passenger automobiles.

For this reason, Nissan is looking to commercialize the paint on ambulances and other specialized vehicles as the first step.

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