Everybody knows that wearing white on a hot summer day is cooler than wearing black, but who knew that the same scientific principle can actually increase you car's gas mileage? A study from the Berkeley Lab Environmental Energy Technologies Division in sunny California shows that by simply choosing the right color, can save you over 1.1% on your gas bill.
Because they reflect back more of the sunlight hitting the car. light colors soak up less heat and require less air conditioner power to keep the interior cool. As you might expect, white and silver are the most reflective and coolest colors, but the researchers say there are "dark cool colors" that reflect well in the infrared range where the heat is concentrated.
Most of this seem pretty intuitive, but it's good to see a study that puts actual numbers on the differences. The "dark cool colors" findings are particularly interesting. Perhaps Batman should look into those for the next Batmobile. LINK
Environmental Energies Technology Division, via Treehugger
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