Tired of scraping ice off your windshield in the winter months? So too are the engineers at Volkswagen. Although automakers have tried a number of devices, including heated windshield water fluid, to remove frozen water from windscreens, VW’s new idea could prevent it from forming in the first place.
The solution may lie with a coating for the windshield itself. Developed in partnership with the Fraunhofer Institute for Surface Technology, VW is testing a number of windshields treated with a thin layer of indium tin oxide. In theory, the coating reportedly prevents heat from radiating upwards, subsequently slowing or preventing the glass from cooling.
Does it work? Volkswagen claims the coating has prevented both fogging and ice formation at temperatures as low as 0 degrees Fahrenheit -- but the system isn’t exactly perfected. Thomas Drescher, an engineer within VW’s Development wing, notes there are a number of variables -- including cloudiness, relative humidity, and wind -- can affect the effectiveness of the tin treatment.
“The Low-E (low thermal emissivity) [may not] prevent ice formation or condensation entirely,” Drescher notes, “but it can significantly reduce the likelihood of it happening.”
While this research might change how we view winter driving, don’t expect to see this technology applied to vehicles within the next year or two. VW reports the metallic film is currently interfering with radio reception and other electronic devices, which would severely limit the design’s viability in a gadget-driven world. Still, VW pledges to tinker with the idea, and once it’s ready for prime time, the company plans on offering it to each of its group brands (i.e. VW, Seat, Audi, Porsche, Skoda, etc.)
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