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Posted on 03/25/2009 1:44:00 PM PDT by John Jorsett
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.
While I wouldn’t own a black car simply because they show dirt and scratches so easily and require frequent washing to look their best, this is just insane. Are they also going to ban black car interiors? Black car covers? I can’t believe this will ever make it into law.
All cars parked in the sun reach the same equilibrium temperature inside.
I’m waiting for California to ban sporting events as athletes breathe harder and thus exhale more C02. The California Legislature obviously doesn’t understand that air conditioning in cars helps gas mileage. Driving with the windows open increases drag and reduces mileage. I seem to recall a study that showed driving with the A/C on has no measurable effect on gas mileage as the increased gasoline used by the A/c is offset by the mileage gained from reducing drag.
Dark colors are nice if you are in Northern California or the mountains.
In fact, you will probably be required to have two cars: one flat black and one white. Or better yet, covered with mirrors.
CARB = Bend over and spread ‘em.
First step to global warming laws?
Global Warming on Free Republic
Windows make a bigger difference with respect to interior heat than does paint color.
In a very real sense, the force has already BEEN initiated... by CARB, in many areas. Stringing the members of CARB from the nearest lamppost could not possibly be an INITIATION, but purely self defense.
Yes, windows are the biggest factor. However, all things being equal, both light and dark vehicles, of the same make and model, will heat to the same point.
The fact is, the interior of a car can get well over 100 degrees in the summer, regardless of exterior color. At this point, as was noted in an earlier post, the A/C is coming on, and likely staying on.
crap! Does this mean I can’t wear black shoes while driving a white car? Or is it white shoes while driving a black car?
Before Labor Day or after?
Zero’s car is black.
Just more ways the government can control us. But when the government starts dictating what color your car can be, or how big your TV can be (Obummer wouldn't be able to bring the BIG TOTUS into CA...wastes too much energy) what next? The size of your house in relation to how big your household is? As it is, we're in a drought and my city is sending drivers around as water police. But God forbid you can't just let your lawn die, that's a ticket right there. They catch you hosing your driveway, or "wasting water" you get a ticket...that just happened to my neighbor last week.
pretty soon the Washington D.C. fudgepackers will have everyone driving lavender cars while wearing pink shoes
In the space of 50 years, Kalifornia has gone from a place to go where there was opportunity.....
.....to a place that must be avoided because of economic and social decay.
It's sad really.
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