Vancouver Auto Chat 2016 VAC Community Head Moderator: Raid3n | |
03-29-2009, 10:36 PM
|
#1 | y'all better put some respeck on my name
Join Date: Dec 2002 Location: Vancouver
Posts: 18,413
Thanked 9,491 Times in 2,443 Posts
Failed 393 Times in 159 Posts
| California to ban black cars? Quote:
California ‘Cool’ Paints Initiative Ugly, Lazy
If California regulators get their way, auto makers may soon be forced to rewrite a cliché from the Ford Model T era and start telling customers they can have any color they want as long as it isn’t black.
Some darker hues will be available in place of black, but right now they are indentified internally at paint suppliers with names such as “mud-puddle brown” and are truly ugly substitutes for today’s rich ebony hues.
So buy a black car now, because soon they won’t be available or will look so putrid you won’t want one. And that’s too bad, because paint suppliers say black is the second- or third-most popular vehicle color around the world.
The problem stems from a new “cool paints” initiative from the California Air Resources Board. CARB wants to mandate the phase-in of heat-reflecting paints on vehicle exteriors beginning with the ’12 model year, with all colors meeting a 20% reflectivity requirement by the ’16 model year.
Because about 17 other states tend to follow California’s regulatory lead, as many as 40% of the vehicles sold in the U.S. could be impacted by the proposed directive, suppliers say.
The measure is aimed at reducing carbon-dioxide emissions and improving fuel economy by keeping vehicles cooler on sunny days and decreasing the amount of time drivers use their air conditioners.
The rationale goes like this: Vehicle AC units sap engine power and hurt fuel economy. If vehicle paint and glass reflect more heat, car interiors will be cooler. That means drivers will use their AC units less, the compressors won’t have to work as hard and auto makers will be able to use smaller AC units in the future.
Reflective coatings and glazing (glass) already have proven to save energy when used on buildings, and this legislation is based on architectural standards.
On the surface, it’s not a bad idea, but fundamental issues reveal profoundly flawed legislation: Buildings and vehicles are manufactured and recycled differently, and no one buys a building based on its color.
Another troublesome fact: Heat-reflecting paints for black and other dark colors on vehicles have not been invented yet.
Paint suppliers also say heat-reflecting pigments that could be used in automotive applications contain toxic heavy metals that cause environmental damage and create health and safety issues during manufacturing and recycling.
At least one auto maker estimates the additional cost of using these paints at $100 per car, not counting required changes to assembly plant painting systems, which could be significant.
So far, auto makers are holding their tongues on this subject, but automotive paint suppliers, such as PPG Industries, are tearing their hair out.
“PPG obviously has a very large architectural division that paints lots of buildings,” says Connie Poulsen, global director-product management, at PPG. “The theory when (CARB) started this was you take the pigments used in buildings and put them into car paints. That’s a good theory; unfortunately it doesn’t quite work that easily. Believe me, we tested it right away.”
“Requirements for color palettes are different, the process is different, the pigments used are different,” Poulsen says, adding that new automotive paint systems also have to undergo two years of rigorous testing before being approved for production. That’s yet another item government bureaucrats never considered – along with 3-year product lead times.
Some California rules are problematic because they are utopian and unworkable. This legislation is flat-out lazy. It’s a cut-and-paste job from the state building code that ignores smarter, more-effective automotive solutions already in production or on the way, such as more efficient AC units and solar-powered ventilation fans that work automatically when a car is parked in the sun.
Struggling auto makers and suppliers must not be forced to waste their limited resources on the cool paints initiative, an ill-informed wasteful boondoggle that embarrasses the environmental movement. dwinter@wardsauto.com http://wardsauto.com/commentary/cool...s_ugly_090324/ | .
|
| |
03-30-2009, 01:21 AM
|
#2 | OMGWTFBBQ is a common word I say everyday
Join Date: Jan 2005 Location: Vancouver
Posts: 5,185
Thanked 1,379 Times in 578 Posts
Failed 96 Times in 53 Posts
|
a day early
|
| |
03-30-2009, 01:24 AM
|
#3 | Captain Happy Bubble is my Homeboy
Join Date: Sep 2006 Location: Richmond
Posts: 328
Thanked 21 Times in 11 Posts
Failed 2 Times in 2 Posts
|
wtf
__________________ 輝く ヘタクソの星 - 切柒煲湯派街坊 |
| |
03-30-2009, 01:46 AM
|
#4 | Hacked RS to become a mod
Join Date: Feb 2002 Location: Sunny Hong Kong
Posts: 53,481
Thanked 24,500 Times in 8,524 Posts
Failed 1,536 Times in 684 Posts
| Quote:
Originally Posted by Jah Al Zawahiri . | Thanks for that valuable insight!
|
| |
03-30-2009, 03:22 AM
|
#5 | I contribute to threads in the offtopic forum
Join Date: Dec 2003 Location: Vancouver
Posts: 2,629
Thanked 273 Times in 90 Posts
Failed 62 Times in 32 Posts
|
Heat-rejecting glass has already been invented. If they just made that one mandatory, they're already halfway there. Half your cabin is glass.
|
| |
03-30-2009, 09:17 AM
|
#6 | Head Moderator
Join Date: Dec 1982 Location: Great White Nor
Posts: 22,661
Thanked 6,462 Times in 2,081 Posts
Failed 98 Times in 51 Posts
|
It makes an unfortunate amount of sense, but it still sucks. Most cars look best when in black.
Maybe I missed it in the article, but I wonder if this law would apply if you get your car repainted at a shop...
|
| |
03-30-2009, 09:40 AM
|
#7 | Banned By Establishment
Join Date: Apr 2001 Location: Vancouver
Posts: 5,378
Thanked 436 Times in 189 Posts
Failed 439 Times in 89 Posts
|
Less freedom.
|
| |
03-30-2009, 09:54 AM
|
#8 | 14 dolla balla aint got nothing on me!
Join Date: Oct 2001 Location: Maple Ridge
Posts: 654
Thanked 279 Times in 95 Posts
Failed 47 Times in 13 Posts
|
I lived in the hottest part of California for over three years. “Cooler paint” isn’t going to do shit when it’s 115 Degrees outside. I don’t think I know anyone who doesn’t jump into their car and have the air con BLASTING as soon as they do. It’s just that hot. Sorry, just wont make any difference.
I am all for doing everything we can to help the environment and to curb our carbon emissions, but once again the Cali CARB board has its head up its ass.
|
| |
03-30-2009, 10:51 AM
|
#9 | The RS Freebie guru
Join Date: Jul 2001 Location: East Vancouver
Posts: 22,032
Thanked 2,491 Times in 860 Posts
Failed 137 Times in 67 Posts
|
Why stop there? Why not force every car to be white then?
|
| |
03-30-2009, 11:10 AM
|
#10 | Banned By Establishment
Join Date: Apr 2001 Location: Vancouver
Posts: 5,378
Thanked 436 Times in 189 Posts
Failed 439 Times in 89 Posts
| Quote:
Originally Posted by InvisibleSoul Why stop there? Why not force every car to be white then? |
What about black tar roofs?
Black shingles?
Where does it end?
This is just more government creeping on the people's freedoms.
|
| |
03-30-2009, 11:59 AM
|
#11 | Moderator
Join Date: Nov 2004 Location: here & there
Posts: 4,654
Thanked 298 Times in 131 Posts
Failed 9 Times in 5 Posts
|
Paint all the roads white too!!!
__________________ Moderator Vancouver Automotive Chat | Vancouver Off-Topic
__________________ REVscene.net - Vancouver's #1 Automotive Forum and Classified's Site!
Interested in advertising with REVSCENE? Join our roster of Brian Jessel BMW, EBISU Robson, Blitz Gear, Soundworks, and dozens of the Lower Mainlands BUSIEST and most SUCCESSFUL small and medium businesses! Let us take you to the next level with our Incredibly affordable and effective packages Advertisement@revscene.net |
| |
03-30-2009, 12:22 PM
|
#12 | Banned By Establishment
Join Date: Jun 2006 Location: Shaugnessy
Posts: 2,610
Thanked 481 Times in 168 Posts
Failed 730 Times in 91 Posts
| Quote:
Originally Posted by Jason00S2000 This is just more government creeping on the people's freedoms. | But for a good cause. If it were up to me (exercise my "freedom") I would drive a Yukon with no cat, refuse to tune it up, and pour black smoke into my air, since it's my freedom. I can do whatever I want, right??
BNR32_Coupe says peace out, yo. i'll catch ya homies later
|
| |
03-30-2009, 12:24 PM
|
#13 | Media Officer / MOD
Join Date: Apr 2001 Location: vancouver
Posts: 28,077
Thanked 5,752 Times in 1,725 Posts
Failed 85 Times in 63 Posts
|
why not have a dome on california and make it out of the same stuff as the transition glasses =D
|
| |
03-30-2009, 12:26 PM
|
#14 | NOOB, Not Quite a Regular!
Join Date: Mar 2009 Location: Surrey
Posts: 34
Thanked 2 Times in 2 Posts
Failed 0 Times in 0 Posts
| Quote:
Originally Posted by threezero a day early | Umm...ya...
|
| |
03-30-2009, 12:36 PM
|
#15 | RS controls my life!
Join Date: Jul 2004 Location: B.C., Canada
Posts: 759
Thanked 83 Times in 26 Posts
Failed 15 Times in 4 Posts
| |
| | |
Posting Rules
| You may not post new threads You may not post replies You may not post attachments You may not edit your posts HTML code is Off | | | All times are GMT -8. The time now is 06:45 PM. |