(Disclaimer: I had a fair share of sucker punches with self-cleaning surfaces..)<p>Approaches towards self cleaning surfaces have been seen in the lab since a long, long time: They range from photocatalytic concepts (e.g. TiO2/SiO2/polymer hybrid coatings for house paint) to surfaces with a mixture of -OH/-CH3/-F (hydro-/lipophilic and mostly repellent) end groups that can be produces by plasma treatment, and many more.<p>There is a good reason that very little of these applications have ended up in mass production: The stability and durability of the film surfaces. Once you get a surface structure damage on, say, your "lotus effect functionalized" bathtub, house wall, car body, dirt starts to accumulate on this spot. The german car industry had quite a bunch of projects with car windows without front wipers (minimum speed 20 km/h to be effective), there have been a lot of projects for self cleaning house paints using the sun - but so far there is no effective product on the market. But of course there are a lot of patents..<p>I have no idea if Nissan found a way to make a cost effective, self cleansing film coating that can stand the test of gravel, acid, and time. If they succeeded, then it is a true accomplishment. But for the reasons listed above, I somehow doubt that.
I see this as an interesting business lesson for startups, but even more general.<p>First, what a great marketing angle, a self-cleaning car, how cool is that! I imagine 6 o'clock news stations across the country showing clips from this video tonight.<p>Second, what a great up-sell opportunity. Now every oil change service done by Nissan can include a new $50 charge (or whatever the market will bear) for re-applying the self-cleaning paint.<p>Third, could they even push an environmental angle? Ie. litres/gallons of water saved by not going through a car wash?<p>So, with one new <i>feature</i> Nissan has gained free marketing, and an incremental revenue source for their dealers. Not bad for a mature market.
If the coating is anything like Neverwet it's not the initial application and demonstration where the issue lies, but in the long term use and breakdown (aka will it still work after being in Arizona heat and Alaskan winters?)
RIP car washes! Wow and that self cleaning paint action, I just had to see it. At this point I just think a ban on wired.com is called for on HN. Whatever nice discussions we've had from wired is probably not offset by the constant shit from this domain. I know I've sung this tune before.
OK I've seen a dozens of different products like this. First time 8 years ago. Why are they not in production yet? Why can't I buy it in shop? Is it highly toxic or just works for a year? #confused
It's not technically "self-cleaning" because it doesn't really clean itself but more dirt-repellant. Self-cleaning does look a lot better marketing wise though.
That's great until it breaks down (and it does). You can't get a basic detail, since the supporting products also won't work with it.<p>Once it does start breaking down, you have issues getting basic stuff like soap bubbles to work as needed to help clean the spots that are broken down.<p>If it can't be layered, without adverse effects to the color of the paint, trouble.<p>If it can't be removed for repainting, etc. trouble.<p>Probably usable for some cases, but not going to get traction in the broader market until someone can fix long-term cost of ownership issues.<p>Have some car zen. Watch Ammo NYC videos on youtube <a href="https://www.youtube.com/user/AMMONYCdotcom" rel="nofollow">https://www.youtube.com/user/AMMONYCdotcom</a>
Can we just use this on our cars? <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IPM8OR6W6WE" rel="nofollow">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IPM8OR6W6WE</a>
I like it a lot - but I don't think it'll ever make car washes completely obsolete. There are quite a few places that can still get dirty, e.g. tires, rims, wheel arches, lights, grilles, windshield wipers, mirrors, and ofcourse not to forget the big elephant in the room; the interior.<p>If this really catches on and becomes commonplace in most cars, I think this in the end will complement the car wash industry just fine.
Ars Technica experimented with the stuff last year. It looks like a lot of fun :) <a href="http://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2013/03/the-internet-demanded-partially-scientific-testing-of-ultraeverdry-in-hd/" rel="nofollow">http://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2013/03/the-internet-demanded...</a>
I remember a similar German technology from way back here on HN, and found it: <a href="http://en.dienanoexperten.de/produkte.htm" rel="nofollow">http://en.dienanoexperten.de/produkte.htm</a><p>But in the end it looks like they didn't expand at all. I would be curious to know what is the problem.
I'm assuming this is made with nanotechnology similar to Neverwet. I haven't looked properly into it but I remember reading that there is suspicion that nanotubes might be dangerous like asbestos. Imagine cars with this coating crashing, sending dust of that stuff into the air..
This is another link bait situation from Wired, which seems to be happening often nowadays.<p>This is just some "stuff-resistant" paint that works better than the paint on cars now. It would be nice if all cars had this, but I'm sure that's just a matter of time / manufacturer.
The product used appears to be Ultra-Ever Dry and is sold and marketed by Florida-based Ultratech International <a href="http://www.spillcontainment.com/everdry" rel="nofollow">http://www.spillcontainment.com/everdry</a>
Some guy put this on his 4x4 over a year ago <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jRlQAhlwb2E" rel="nofollow">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jRlQAhlwb2E</a>
Looks like it's using something like <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mEH6tDLKcVU" rel="nofollow">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mEH6tDLKcVU</a>
Look at that headlight on the treated side of the car. The cloudiness these types of applications add makes it look like the headlight of a decade old car.
In practice it would probably mean that while almost nothing sticks, whatever does will be a total bitch to take off :)<p>Just like antibiotics and superbugs. Survival of the nastiest.