Mercedes' new paintwork could give EVs thousands of extra miles of range per year

Car giant Mercedes has been working on a special new paint that could give EVs added range thanks to sunlight.

The added distance could be thousands of miles for drivers to utilize.

It’s all down to clever technology that uses the sun’s energy and puts it to use within an EV.

Let’s have a look at what this means, shall we?

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Mercedes-Benz is a global marque

The German giant has produced a whole fleet of impressive cars, from supercars to daily drivers.

It’s even dipped its toes into the water world too, with Mercedes-Maybach creating a yacht-inspired S-Class to celebrate a huge anniversary.

But, aside from producing impressive models of vehicles, the marque also been developing other clever technology behind the scenes.

Thanks to this impressive creation, some EV owners’ lives could about to be made a whole lot better.

Mercedes has been working on new paint

Let’s be honest, the paintwork on your Mercedes is probably the last thing you think will add range to the battery. But the marque has come up with paint that does something amazing.

Because it’s not just any old paint. In fact, it could charge your battery.

Mercedes has been researching ‘new technologies to shape the mobility of tomorrow’, and this feature really could change the game.

The new paint could add thousands of miles to EVs every year, meaning fewer hours spent waiting at charging stops and more time spent on the road.

But, how does it work?

Now, we totally get that this sounds, a bit, well, far-fetched. But, believe it or not, the science is there.

“The entire car body is coated with photovoltaic paint which generates electrical energy. This energy can be used immediately for driving or is stored in the battery when the vehicle is stationary”, says the brand itself.

The term photo-voltaic basically means the paint takes energy from sunlight. According to Mercedes, the material is a ‘completely new type of nanoparticle-based paint.’

And that means 94 percent of the energy from sunlight, through the paint, can help power your car – cool right?

That added energy could extend the range of an EV by 12,000KM or 7,456 miles. Which is a huge number. And it’s all thanks to the sun.

However, as we bet you’ve guessed, it all depends on where you are in the world and the levels of sunlight you see. So, British readers, you may want to look away now.

“Statistically, Mercedes-Benz drivers in Stuttgart, Germany, cover an average of 52 kilometres a day. Around 62 per cent of this distance would be covered using solar energy,” the automaker said.

However, if you reside in sunny LA, Mercedes said that ‘there is even a surplus of energy from solar radiation’. This means an EV owner could actually use solar energy to power the entire driving distance.

Plus, the paint is nontoxic and uses raw materials only. What’s not to love?

Solar-powered paint isn’t the only thing the brand is working on either, as we’ve also heard whispers of ideas like an ‘in-drive brake,’ and an ‘innovative power converter’.

All we can say is, watch this space. Mercedes-Benz could be about to change the game.

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