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A Look Inside the Paint Shop of Tesla Gigafactory in Shanghai

Tesla Shanghai has released a rare video that shows its completely automated paint shop and reveals Tesla’s focus on paint, which has increased since talk about Giga Berlin’s advanced paint shop started.

Tesla released a short video which shows the step-by-step automated painting process that all Made in China Tesla vehicles go through at the company’s Gigafactory in Shanghai. The clip shows that most of the painting process is automated. The car body undergoes a rotational dip process, through which an anti-corrosive primer is applied by dipping the car body in an electrically conductive bath. The topcoat is then applied with fully automated robots that feature rotary atomizers with electrostatic technology. The paint shop features advanced process technologies, including an exhaust gas centralized combustion system. The paints employed are VOC free. All this ensures that the coating process is highly efficient, energy-saving and environmentally friendly. The footage also reveals some of the different colour options available to Tesla customers, including Tesla China’s Deep Sea Blue, China Red, Pearl White, Cold Light Silver and Pure Black colour options. This video comes after a Tesla app update, which teased new colour options available for cars produced at Giga Berlin, similar to the ones seen in the Tesla China video. Moreover, in the months following Tesla’s announcement of the Gigafactory in Germany, Elon Musk teased about Giga Berlin’s advanced paint shop, stating that “Giga Berlin will have world’s most advanced paint shop, with more layers of stunning colours that subtly change with curvature”. To build Giga Berlin’s paint shop, Tesla partnered with Geico Taikisha and it appears that the company plans to retrofit Giga Shanghai with Geico Taikisha machines once the technology has been tested at Giga Berlin.

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HMG Improves Its Acrythane 4G Topcoat

The topcoat Acrythane 4G developed by HMG is now faster to apply.

The Research and Development section at HMG Paints has added a new thinner to its Acrythane 4G, in order to speed up the application process of the topcoat specifically intended for commercial vehicles. “The major benefit for applicators is the ease of use of Acrythane 4G. Our customers are complimenting us on a daily basis about how easy Acrythane 4G is to use and produce high quality results, especially when compared to competitor products,” stated Martyn Binnington, the Distribution Manager for HMG Paints. Launched in 2019, Acrythane 4G is a high solids acrylic polyurethane coating developed to satisfy the strict requirements of the commercial vehicle sector. The optimised balance of early hardness, fast cure and long pot life makes the topcoat particularly suitable for OEM, repairers and builder. Acrythane 4G is available in several colours, including the ones in the new HMG ColourBase Colour Box, a multi-function tool containing chromatic codes that identify existing colours on the market for reference. It presents over 2400 colour chips displayed in chromatic order within 20 fan decks. “The unique properties Acrythane 4G provide us easy application, fast drying and a superior finish, it’s so nice to use I can just put it on and walk away. I love it, the depth of image on jobs is fantastic and customers are now specifying it for their whole fleet,” added Paul Rafferty of Rafferty Coachworks. Acrythane 4G is also being used in other industries as a VOC and REACH compliant topcoat to provide excellent gloss final appearance and durability. Its advanced properties and thinner options allow to use the paint in cold and warm weather conditions.

For further information: www.hmgpaint.com www.cmautomazione.it

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PPG Teamed Up with Toyota to Reimagine the Iconic Toyota Chinook Camper

Experts of PPG’s automotive OEM coatings and refinish businesses collaborated with Toyota Motorsports Garage to bring back to life the vintage colour scheme of the iconic Toyota Chinook camper for a reimagined version of vehicle.

PPG unveiled the new colours developed for the Toyota “Tacozilla” 4x4 overlander concept vehicle – a reimagination of the iconic Toyota Chinook camper of the 1970s and 1980s – during the 2021 Specialty Equipment Market Association (SEMA) Show in Las Vegas. Tacozilla is an off-road-ready Toyota Tacoma TRD Sport featuring a fully insulated “micro-house” with modern conveniences that can comfortably accommodate two people for on- and off-road adventures. The Chinook was introduced by Toyota in 1972 as a fuelefficient alternative to conventional motorhomes. Experts from PPG’s automotive OEM and refinish businesses collaborated with Toyota Motorsports Garage in selecting the vehicle’s white basecoat and vintage yellow, orange and bronze accents. “This was a very fast-paced, exciting project that demonstrated our team’s unique ability to create and execute a colour scheme that helped bring our customer’s concept to life,” said Misty Yoemans, PPG colour styling manager, Americas. Complete Customs in McKinney, Texas, applied all three PPG colours with support from PPG distributor English Colour and Supply in Richardson, Texas.

For further information: http://corporate.ppg.com

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