Fleet Sporting Ford’s "Green Paint" Hits the Road
A Ford E-350 cutaway gets the "green" treatment at Ohio plant.
U-Haul this week began renting the automotive industry's first vehicle fleet to sport Ford's "green paint," a product expected to wear better than conventional auto paint while being environmentally cleaner and faster and cheaper to apply.
Aside from a few decals boasting eco-friendliness, the 200-plus E-Series vans that U-Haul, North America's largest trailer rental company, has added to its fleet don't appear to be anything special, but they are -- if only skin deep.
The solvent-borne paint contains more pigment than conventional water-borne auto paint, which allows the color to be applied using less paint. And unlike water-borne paint, the new formula allows for three coats of wet paint to be applied to the vehicle one on top of the other, without drying between coats.
This eliminates the prime-coat application and its related processes, which permits a smaller, more efficient paint shop. And, there’s no need for air-conditioning or an additional low-temperature oven, which are required in water-borne paint shops to evaporate the water from the paint.
The result, according to Ford: a process that results in 15 percent fewer carbon dioxide emissions, a 10 percent drop in volatile organic compounds, less energy expended, and a 20 percent decrease in painting times. The automaker says it saves about $7 per paint job, so the environmental benefits shouldn't come at a financial cost to consumers.
“Painting vehicles has traditionally been one of the auto industry’s biggest environmental challenges,” said Mary Ellen Rosenberger, paint manager of Avon Lake, Ohio, assembly plant where the new technology was launched.
“Ford has found the solution. It’s environmentally sound. It’s cost-efficient. And it produces beautifully painted vehicles with long-term durability.”
The paint formulation contains new polymers and other additives that prevent running and sagging during the "three-wet" application process.
Ford said its laboratory tests show the high-solids, solvent-borne paint provides better long-term resistance to chips and scratches than does water-borne paint.
Said Dean Cerimeli, U-Haul’s director of Truck and Trailer Product: “When it comes to the environment and sustainability, we are happy to partner with Ford in this important field test. We believe this is the most environmentally responsible way to paint vehicles. And we applaud Ford for leading the industry.”
Scott Doggett, Contributor
John and Scott, this is interesting stuff. If this is really cheaper, quicker, more durable, and less labor intensive....then why aren't we seeing an industry wide push in this direction? Is this process just THAT new? Or do the manufacturers consider the reinvestment in new technology to be cost prohibitive?
It's that new.
And Ford owns the patents.
However, because painting is so energy, water and labor intensive, not to mention the pollutants generated, every automaker is pushing for better (i.e., less expensive, less polluting, etc.) paints and paint processes. So expect to see a number of announcements like this in the next few years.
Thanks, John.
Keep up the interesting posts. They go great with my morning coffee every day.
I just hope it lasts. The worst thing about my sunfire is that after 7 years the paint peel is spreading.
There has been a significant push in the coatings industry over the last, oh five or ten years, to reduce VOC's (volatile organic compounds -- basically solvents that evaporate, like ethanol, gasoline, acetone, etc). That means using different solvents, or higher solids content, or changing to water-based coatings. Which is why it surprised me that they are claiming a lower VOC output when changing from a water-based to a solvent-based paint. Are you sure they're not changing from solvent- to water-based?