[Ram]

For the last 100 years in automotive history, cars have used moving wipers to mechanically clean their windshield. Now there is a breakthrough Italian technology that could obsolete the windshield wiper.

The Italian design house of Fioravanti, celebrates its 20th anniversary with the design of a car which does not need conventional wipers.

The car: Fioravanti Hidra uses nanotechnology to keep its windshield clean without wipers.

How does it work?
The windshield is made of a special glass with four high-tech layers that change the characteristics of glass at the molecular level.

1. The outermost layer is based on titanium dioxide: filters the sun and waterproofs the windshield.
2. The second layer of glass is actually made up of microscopic dust pushing dirt on the sides of the glass.
3. The third layer contains sensors that sense the dirtiness and wetness of the windshield.
4. Like an LCD display, the fourth layer conducts electricity, needed to power this complex multilayer windshield.

Already working today, this technology will be part of production cars in five years!

The Fioravanti Hidra is a concept car. It is a 5-door, 4 passenger multi-purpose coupè.
It aims to also showcase next-generation alternative energy powertrains and flexible vehicle architectures.
The Hidra will be demonstrated at the 2008 Geneva Motor Show.

The owner-designer of the design house is an ex-Pininfarina employee called Leonardo Fioravanti.
Leonardo at one time, designed the Ferrari Daytona, Ferrari Dino, Ferrari 512 Berlinetta Boxer, the Ferrari 308 GTB, and the Ferrari 288 GTO under the banner of Pininfarina.

Ram

Ref: Rivoluzione Hidra Fioravanti E' la prima senza tergicristalli - Motori - Repubblica.it

[HappyWheels]

wow! great new. guess a revolution in the making. thanks for sharing the info, ram.

[Jayabusa]

Revolushaaaaaan!! That's awesome news! This is indeed a path breaking and revolutionary technology. But it's going to be very expensive considering those four layers and one of them being based on titanium-dioxide.
Great find ram!

[ram_hyundai]

have heard a lot of nano technology news and this one sure is of a great importance.wish it could be in production earlier.
ram

[GTO]

Neat find, Ram! Well written too.

Already working today, this technology will be part of production cars in five years!

Do you think? The costs will be prohibitive. Or maybe just until mass-production.

[BUSA]

Awesome, this should be on supercars in the next 5 years, not on regular mass produced vehicles.

[VJ_MAVRICK]

Nice technology there but i wonder how long will it take to come to India.

[Xehaust]

What a co-incidense. I just got my wipers changed today and came across this thread.

[theMAG]

Nice development. Its inventions like this and the fuel cell that show the way forward in automobile evolution.

[ishotmydog]

interesting. nanotechnology even finds out a way to help the automobile world and that too in a good way.

hope this technology is adopted as soon as it is monetarily feasible.

[rider60]

good find ram, and i have the same doubt as GTO's.

And to add more, IMO there is more technology in the world in the hands of the companies they just do not let it all out, they take a lot of time, and use these as trump cards when they need to sell the cars with better features.
for example, the hyundais made good name only after the introduction of the CRDi and still hold the credit in India for being the first to give this out these advanced engines other wise the meeting the euro norms was not an issue as even today the tata engines with turbo come with non common rail engines and this happens similarly in other places too!
i think the reason being the huge costs of R&D that go in to development of these technologies and other factors like mass production etc.

[sujaylahiri]

(Sigh) Finally!! Man they rip you off at Walmart and Canadian Tire with those cheap wiper blades which last 1 winter.

[CrAzY dRiVeR]

The technology sounds good. But does it hold effective in the heavy downpours that we have here in India?

[arif_t01]

Originally Posted by GTO

Do you think? The costs will be prohibitive. Or maybe just until mass-production.

And to imagine the cost of changing the windscreen, if a crack occurs

I had to shell around Rs.10,000/- (Insurance claim) for changing the windshield of my Fiesta, after getting hit by a stone pellet from a lorry passing on the other side.

[gt_mustang]

something extremly usefull and seriously hifi
wonder when this will land up in india!!!!