I saw that on a crawler on Scripps News. There has been a “cooler” paint, that reduces solar gain, for a long time. It’s called “white”.
Steve
2nd best is probably silver. All the new dull finishes are probably the worst.
Mike
There are better surface treatments available that very significantly reduce heat gain. However, they may not be appropriate for vehicles. I looked at them 20-30 years ago, and the uptake was still low. It costs more, but is far more effective. Search for ceramic insulating paint (CIP) and see what is available. Another feature of CIP is it totally blocks water infiltration. However, the CIP must be not be scratched (because that creates an opening for water to get in).
If it costs extra, without showing the extra cost, it will be a loser with USians. USians seemingly want the biggest, more garish, anything, they can find, but they don’t want to pay anything for anything. There have been several threads on automotive interest groups, about how automakers are minimizing the “recommended maintenance” on their cars, so they can advertise how little it costs to maintain their cars. The fact that such minimal maintenance will shorten the life of the car does not seem to matter, to the automakers. It’s all about making the car cheap, while making it big and garish, at the same time.
Steve
Cooler paint technology was reported as a research curiosity a few years ago. Its great to see that companies are looking into it.
There’s more to it than simply reflecting suns rays. Will be interesting to see if the technology makes a practical difference.