California ‘Cool’ Paints Initiative Ugly, Lazy

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.

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.

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.

[The paint's on the outside, we sit on the inside - how stupid do they think we are {don't answer that}.

If they were serious about reducing AC time, they'd allow us to super-tint our windows to keep the sunlight out. But that would prevent cops from seeing who's using the commuter lane alone - and we can't have that.

When are we going to fire these idiots? {don't answer that either (sigh)}]

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