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November 12, 2007

Nissan’s “paramagnetic” paint coating allows you to change car color at the flip of a switch

by Dhiram Shah

Bored with the white, wanna change the color of the car to classic black? No sweat, just flick a switch and…voila! The color has gone from white to black. It’s not some sci-fi stuff that I’m dishing out, but its something Nissan has been working on for a while. They have developed a “paramagnetic” paint coating, which is a unique polymer layer that features iron oxide particles that are applied to the vehicle’s body. When an electric current is applied to the polymer layer, the human eye then interprets the crystals in the polymer as different colors. Depending on the level of current and the spacing of the crystals, a wide range of colors can be selected by the driver. A steady current is needed to maintain the color effect, thus the paramagnetic paint doesn’t work when the vehicle is turned off and hence the vehicle switches back to a default white color.

Apparently Ford had a similar paint option on its mid-90s Mustang GT and Cobra (Mystic) and 2004 Mustang Cobras (Mystychrome). The cars appeared to be either green or purple depending on the viewing angle. Nissan is working on the paramagnetic paint and hopes to have it on production vehicles by 2010. Nissan’s Scratch Guard Coat, a self-healing vehicle paint, is something that has car owners adore. It almost makes all superficial minor scratches disappear. Nissan’s Scratch Guard Coat is currently available on the 2008 Infiniti EX35 luxury crossover utility vehicle.
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