
BMW unveils “blackest black” car sprayed with Vantablack - bookofjoe
https://www.dezeen.com/2019/08/27/bmw-vbx6-vantablack-car-design/
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wmf
This isn't a real car that will be sold, y'all. It's conceptual art. AFAIK
Vantablack is so fragile that it will be damaged just by touching it; forget
about water.

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i_am_nomad
The article seems to indicate that this is a real product, and that they are
using some “sprayable” version of the pigment.

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primis
This also seems to intentionally be only "99%" non-reflective, so there's
still a small semblance of 3D-ness on this car (judging from the photos)

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sizzzzlerz
It's like, how much more black could this car be? And the answer is none. None
more black.

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kevas
1% more.

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badpun
So essentially you're only seeing the silhouette of the car and can't really
observe it as a 3d object? Sounds like a fabulously bad idea.

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GaryNumanVevo
It's a concept design / art piece. Vantablack is highly carcinogenic and
fragile. However, this thing would make a great solar oven.

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k_sze
According to Wikipedia, Vantablack absorbs visible light, converts it and
dissipates it as heat.

Can some materials engineer/physicist chime in and talk about its impact to
warming relative to “regular” car paints/coatings?

I can’t imagine it being good for the environment.

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ahartmetz
The energy conversion is the same as in regular black but it absorbs 99%
instead of 95% or whatever. That's 4% more heating in the sun, so no
appreciable difference.

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ahartmetz
The windows might be too large and the grille too small to be really future-
proof design wise.

I mean seriously, who buys such ugly pieces of shit? This looks like a gaming
PC case, which everyone agrees you are not allowed to like if you are over 16.

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linksnapzz
"Nobody ever went broke underestimating the good taste of the American
public."

I forgot who said that, but...he was right. There are enough Americans w/ bad
taste to make the 4-door "SUV coupe" an actual market segment. God help us
all.

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cafard
H.L. Mencken

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perl4ever
"I put on the cloak... the hue fuligin, which is darker than black, admirably
erases all folds, bunchings and gatherings so far as the eye is concerned,
showing only a featureless dark."

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jessaustin
It took longer than I expected for a Torturer to show up...

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yummypaint
Great, now owners can know beyond any doubt that their car is the hottest one
in the parking lot

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Hongwei
I worry any owners will develop a pathological hatred of specks of dust.

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benj111
I'm worried more about the safety. How are you supposed to see it in the dark?

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tiernano
Head lights?!

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benj111
How do headlights work?

Light leaves the bulb, reflects off some surface into your retina.

This doesn't reflect so you cant see it.

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antisemiotic
_their_ headlights.

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benj111
If they're parked up?

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m-p-3
Reflectors beside the headlights?

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benj111
Perhaps...

The more reflectors you add, the more you move away from the point of
vantablack, and theres going to be the whole central area that doesn't have
reflectors. If you're looking side on and can only see a reflector on the
left, and reflector on the right, are you going to discern the car in the
middle?

Black cars are already involved in more accidents [1]. This seems like it
would be worse.

[1] [https://www.telegraph.co.uk/motoring/news/7845366/Black-
cars...](https://www.telegraph.co.uk/motoring/news/7845366/Black-cars-more-
likely-to-be-involved-in-crashes.html)

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m-p-3
Would that kind of painting be a problem for speed-trap or radar?

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floatingatoll
Vantablack absorbs ultraviolet through far-infrared, so radar is probably not
affected.

Infrared laser speed measurement devices would have difficulty if aimed at the
body of the car, which is why they often aim at license plates (which you may
be stopped and ticketed for if you cover with an infrared-blocking plastic, as
many do).

