Why We’ll Never Have Fully Self-Cleaning Cars
This article is sponsored by Carpet Cleaner Lab.
A couple of years ago, Nissan announced an experimental technology for its LEAF electric car in the form of self-cleaning paint. The special paint features a layer of air between the paint and debris, which helps prevent dirt from sticking to the car’s exterior.
If you’re hoping for fully self-cleaning vehicles, though, you’re out of luck. Here’s why it won’t happen anytime soon.
Cars are more than just paint
While it would be nice to have a car whose upholstery or windows would self-clean, it’s not likely to happen.
In short, there’s no that can replace what a human can do with a good upholstery cleaner when the car needs a really good cleaning. The exterior may be all about wiping and polishing, but the dash has to be gently cleaned, as well as the seats, the steering wheel and so on.
The limits of technology
At the moment, only certain processes can be automated via technology, and car cleaning is not one of them. Processes able to easily be automated usually don’t involve much human activity.
When it comes to the interior of a car that’s used every single day, it would be difficult to implement a system meant to keep it clean, as the tech would need to account for the human presence within the vehicle as well.
Naturally, this depends on how the cleaning process would be performed and when.
Aid in cleaning
Even though we may never get fully self-cleaning vehicles, there are certain features that help us better clean our cars.
For example, there are a couple of self-driving car prototypes that come with a steering wheel that can be hidden in the car’s dash. Such a feature can make it easier for us to clean the front row seats, as well as the dash.
On top of that, there are many tools and cleaning solutions that can be safely used on the inside of your car.
Job made by a person
As previously mentioned, no one can top a human being equipped with a pressure washer or upholstery cleaner. The paint may keep itself clean, but the edges, corners, and cracks of your vehicle will still be dirty.
Even though some tech can keep it shiny and sparkling, there will always be some parts that need to be cleaned by a proper hand.
The News Wheel is a digital auto magazine providing readers with a fresh perspective on the latest car news. We’re located in the heart of America (Dayton, Ohio) and our goal is to deliver an entertaining and informative perspective on what’s trending in the automotive world. See more articles from The News Wheel.