Hyundai Motor Group Pilots "Nano Cooling Film" on Police Buses to Lower Interior Temperature

Nano Cooling Film Not Only Reflects Heat, But Also Releases Internal Warmth
Full-Scale Production to Be Considered After One-Year Quality Verification

Hyundai Motor Group has delivered a special gift to police officers battling the extreme summer heat.

On September 2, Hyundai Motor Group announced that it had applied an advanced material called "Nano Cooling Film," which lowers a vehicle's interior temperature simply by being attached to the windows, to two police buses belonging to Unit 1 of the Mobile Division at the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency.

A view of a nano-cooling film being attached to a National Police Agency bus. HYUNDAI Motor Company

The Nano Cooling Film is an advanced material developed by Hyundai Motor Group for the first time in the world. In addition to the sun-reflecting function of conventional tinting films, it also has the added feature of radiating infrared energy from inside the vehicle to the outside.

The film is composed of three layers: two that reflect near-infrared wavelengths of solar energy, and one that emits mid-infrared wavelengths from inside the vehicle to the outside. It can be attached to vehicles using the same method as traditional tinting films.

Hyundai Motor Group decided to apply the film after recognizing that the police mobile squadrons use their buses as mobile onsite offices and living quarters for extended periods.

They especially took note of the fact that, due to the need for operational clarity and compliance, police buses cannot use dark tinting, making them structurally more vulnerable to heat. In practice, officers have reported difficulties performing their duties in the hot weather.

Hyundai Motor Group installed Nano Cooling Film with 90% light transmission on the side and rear windows of two Universe buses from Squadrons 13 and 14. These buses were immediately deployed for police mobile squad missions.

Through the application of this film, Hyundai Motor Group expects not only to enhance the officers' work performance, but also to achieve benefits such as energy savings by reducing the use of air conditioning. The company plans to verify the cooling effect and quality through a one-year monitoring period, after which mass production will be considered.

Nano Cooling Film Temperature Test Results. Hyundai Motor Company

Previously, Hyundai Motor Group applied Nano Cooling Film with 90% light transmission to Universe FCEVs and ultra-low-floor hydrogen electric buses produced at the Hyundai Motor Jeonju Plant, and then conducted comparative evaluations against vehicles without any tinting.

While there were variations depending on the weather and sunlight, vehicles with the film maintained an average cabin temperature 2 to 3 degrees Celsius lower than those without it. In the driver's seat, where sunlight is most intense, the difference reached up to 7 degrees.

This technology not only helps maintain comfort for passengers, but, considering that it takes about 1.6 kWh of electricity to lower a bus’s cabin temperature by 1 degree, it is expected to have significant effects on both energy savings and carbon emission reduction.

Minjae Lee, principal researcher at Hyundai Motor and Kia Advanced Materials Research Center, who led the development of the Nano Cooling Film, said, "I feel rewarded knowing that we have developed a technology that can assist police officers struggling in the heat. We will continue to increase real-world applications in vehicles and monitor their performance to further enhance the technology."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.