Electro-Pulse tech could de-ice cars in seconds
You've been there a hundred times. You get to your car in the morning and a thick layer of frost is there to greet you. You turned the car on, cranked up the defroster, then scraped for what feels like forever. It's one of our least favorite things to do, but if new electro-pulse technology works as well as advertised, none of us will have to deal with this frozen situation much longer.
The defrost tech, created by Ice Engineering, is already installed on the 489-foot-tall Uddevalla cable bridge in Sweden and on a 107,639-square-foot glass dome of a mall in Moscow City. The defroster utilizes a 20,000-kilowatts-per-square-meter jolt of electricity to zap away ice in a matter of seconds, and it can work on cars, too.
Ice Engineering is currently testing a thin, transparent, electrically conductive film applied to the windshield. With about four seconds of high voltage energy, the ice loses its bond with the windshield, making clean-up a snap. The 20,000-kilowatt surge is actually a big energy-saver versus the eight minutes it takes the defroster to perform the same task. Eliminate the need to start your car and let it sit in the driveway, and you're saving several minutes of wasted fuel, while also cutting your CO2 footprint. If you live in an area that experiences plenty of frost, we're sure this will sound as good to you as it does to us. Thanks for the tip, Toy Yoda!
[Source: Sciam]
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 3)
Tecmec 8:13AM (2/10/2009)
Excellent ... unfortunately, defrosting the windows is only one very small reason I, and other people where I live, warm up our cars when its nearing -40 outside.
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oldraven 1:34PM (2/10/2009)
You could always invest in an alternative style block heater. My propane powered '86 C-10 has a coolant heater that is mounted in line with the coolant hose coming from the heater core. It has an element inside, obviously, but it also has a pump, so it circulates hot coolant through the entire engine (not just heating up one spot on the side of the block) and heater box. So if you have this plugged into a timer, with a half an hour of circulation and 4 seconds of this defrost technology, your car has clear views and blows hot air the instant you turn the key.
Randy 2:01PM (2/10/2009)
I'd like to see the video of the bridge being shocked! Do they do it when people are on it? Anyone have a link?
sydbot 8:17AM (2/10/2009)
So does this thing also warm up cold leather seats?
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h8rain 8:19AM (2/10/2009)
"The defroster utilizes a 20,000-kilowatts-per-square-meter jolt of electricity to zap away ice in a matter of seconds, and it can work on cars, too."
It could pull double duty as a security device (IE apply it to panels/door handles).
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nardvark 8:22AM (2/10/2009)
So we're going to take high voltage, pass it through an electrically conductive layer of ice on the car, and pretend there isn't a risk of transferring it to the chassis?
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The Doctor 8:29AM (2/10/2009)
As long as you're sitting in the car it shouldn't matter.
Tin 3:39PM (2/10/2009)
Electricity goes through the chassis all the time, the whole chassis is the ground.
wushu 8:25AM (2/10/2009)
I already get a slight shock every time I touch my door from the 12V battery. There's no way I'm putting a 20KV device in my car!
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Kitko 9:18AM (2/10/2009)
That's probably static. No matter what car I enter or exit, no matter what I wear and what seats are made of, I always get a shock. No-one else I know, of people who are allowed to drive my car or any other I drive or use, experience that.
Similarly, I get shocks when I switch on an LCD monitor, nobody else in my office using the same monitor gets them.
Some of us are bit more conductive or maybe we're just get easily charged. :-)
kal326 11:02AM (2/10/2009)
@Kitko
One of my buddies has that same kind of problem. One day he shocked me by handing me a CD.
XJ 12:40PM (2/10/2009)
I have the same problem. It happens when I try to put my coat on a hanger, touch a doorknob, a cat, etc... It happens more so in the winter because of the dry air. Try putting cream on your hand.
G-Meister 6:22PM (2/10/2009)
Just for grins, try an ESD ankle strap. they're only a few bucks- if that works, you can get any number of shoes with ESD function, some more or less stylish than others.
Brian 8:31AM (2/10/2009)
So, what's it going to take to modify this so I can zap the driver in front of me doing 55 in the fast lane?
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refugee7 4:49PM (2/10/2009)
Well tell me when you find the solution!
henrykrinkle 8:32AM (2/10/2009)
Hasn't this been around for almost 25 years?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Instaclear
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Joe_thousandaire 1:57AM (2/11/2009)
Yes, this has kinda been around for awhile, Ford has similar technology called Quickclear that is available on some of its cars in Europe, I hope they bring it to the states to go along with their Euro-style products like the Fiesta.
tekd 4:28AM (2/11/2009)
No that's not the same thing at all. This uses SECONDS of electric pulsing to basically shatter off the ice, not minutes of heat transfer.
It's not even close to the same thing guys.
Big Papi 7:43PM (3/18/2009)
Instaclear is a half step better than a window with visible wires. The wires act as heating elements warming the window and melting the ice. Instaclear's wires are not visible and more pleasant visually.
This tech is (probably) using high voltage and low current to shock the physical connection between the window and the ice. I suspect you would see shattered ice but no real melt. From the sound of it, this should use less energy than melting it off the window.
Sea Urchin 8:36AM (2/10/2009)
Is that Mazda Miata?
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