operation of the ADAS. “It’s a concern for paint companies because one fourth of all new cars produced every year are painted with metallic colors,” Tullett said. “It’s a very popular color space, and we don’t think that car makers are going to abandon that color space. They’re looking for us to come up with solutions so that they can maintain that color space. “We’ve identified a number of existing materials that we can use, so that they won’t impede with radar performance, and still give us a good color match,” he said. “In the paint business, color accuracy is everything. Everybody wants their car back looking like it was never in an accident, right? The most visual thing they see is the color. So, we’ve identified alternative materials, and some of them are already present in our paint systems. We’ve identified that small number of colors which are affected and developed alternatives.” Collision repairers will need to consider the repair guidelines and technical and service bulletins provided by automakers to keep safety
intact. PPG plans to issue a technical bulletin relating to radar and the impact of certain metallic finishes for collision repair professionals. In addition, the company recently launched the PPG KNOWLEDGE COLLEGE™ online learning management system that provides the refinish industry with the most comprehensive online training programs available. Over the last couple of years, PPG has done a lot of joint work with carmakers, looking at their color palettes and measuring the radar transmission of the colors in their color ranges. “We have identified any potential problem colors where the interference in the radar with the radar signal is enough to actually impair the correct functioning of the radar,” Tullett said. “It’s worth pointing out that the very vast majority of colors in your own cars today are absolutely fine. They don’t interfere with the radar transmission, and they won’t affect the safe working of the ADAS. “Now one of the ways that carmakers have dealt with this up until
now is to make a blanket recommendation that says, when you have a car that’s equipped with radar if the bumper is damaged, you may not repair that, you must simply replace it,” he said. “And by doing that what they’re saying is when you replace it, it’s going to have one layer of paint applied to it. And they’re OK with that. What they’re concerned about is if you have a repair using body filler, multiple layers of paint might interact with a radar to an extent where the performance of the radar is degraded.” PPG is currently researching and developing a wide range of novel materials to devise solutions that won’t compromise radar in some vehicles. “We want to retain our capability to stay within that coveted silver metallic color space that is much more transparent to radar than aluminum or other existing pigments,” Tullett said. As ADAS evolves, companies such as PPG will be working hard to develop products that will complement rather than impede ADAS, especially radar.
State Farm, Ford Introduce UBI State Farm® and Ford announced the launch of Drive Safe & Save™ Connected Car for customers with eligible connected Ford or Lincoln vehicles, to benefit from usage-based insurance (UBI). State Farm customers with eligible connected vehicles can opt into the State Farm UBI program, Drive Safe & Save, which adjusts premiums to an individual vehicle’s mileage and customer driving behavior. State Farm will debut Drive Safe & Save Connected Car in Alaska, Idaho, Montana and Oregon, for policies effective on or after Feb. 27, followed by a rollout across more states, excluding California, Massachusetts and Rhode Island. Eligible 2020 Model Year and newer connected Ford vehicles, with the consent of the vehicle owner, can share information directly with State Farm to enable Drive Safe & Save. Source: Ford Motor Company
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