Japanese car manufacturer GLM (Kyoto; www.glm.jp) has announced that it will furnish its "Tommykaira ZZ" sports car with a windscreen made of polycarbonate starting this autumn. The new hard-coating technology, developed by Japanese plastics and fibres producer Teijin (Tokyo; www.teijin.com), satisfies Japanese, US and EU safety standards.

Currently, windscreens made out of PC have only been used in specialised vehicles with very low production volumes, such as racecars or armoured trucks for security forces. The use of PC in vehicles has been limited to headlamp housing or small windows, since conventional polycarbonate glazing does not offer the same level of abrasion or weather resistance and it gradually yellows after years of sunlight exposure.

Teijin said the new hard-coating technology can be applied on large or complex-shaped automotive windows made out of resin. Plasma enhanced chemical vapour deposition (plasma CVD) is not a new technology, but was limited for use on windows that are smaller than 0.3 m². In collaboration with Tsukishima Kikai (Tokyo; www.tsk-g.co.jp), the company developed a plasma CVD pilot plant to treat large and three-dimensional resin products. The plant in Matsuyama / Japan is currently running small capacity output for selected car models, but is aiming for a launch of full-scale commercial manufacturing operations.

For GLM’s Tommykaira ZZ sports car, the new technology will offer another advantage. Not only the windscreen, but also its frame will be made out of transparent PC in the future, thus allowing a driver to better view the road.

In addition to aesthetic improvements to a car, a windscreen made out of PC also offers a weight reduction of up to 36%. This stretches the mileage of an electric car and also betters its CO₂ statistics. This will prove interesting in light of current EU regulations on vehicle emissions.