Automotive glass needs to guarantee good light transmission for excellent vision, as well as good protection from heat. Green-tinted glass has been the only option until now, but gives everything seen through the glass a noticeably green tint. From a car design angle, the greenish tint of the glazing is also not a good match with the bodywork colour nor with the privacy glass.
AGC took on the challenge to find a neutral alternative that would answer the dreams of car designers as well as make drivers see a true blue sky. And without compromise on heat protection.
Pure Grey could never have seen the light of day without close cooperation between the Belgian and Japanese R&D centres of AGC Group. A Japanese team had already developed part of the technology-high-selectivity glass, giving great natural light transmission while protecting from heat. Out of this pilot was born the Pure Grey project.
The Japanese and Belgian teams worked closely together. The composition of Pure Grey was devised in the laboratory, and thoroughly tested, proving that a ‘neutral’ glass could have the same optical energy properties as a ‘green’ glass. The multinational collaboration wasn’t over yet. Another two years of preparation went into how to move from small-scale test production to large-scale mass production of the glass; from laboratory to factory. This was a real challenge, as the composition of the glass had to be changed without stopping production, as float glass is a continuous production process.
The result is an exclusive glass: Pure Grey
Pure Grey glass is characterised by neutral light transmission with excellent colour rendering. This same neutral feature improves overall colour harmony by blending better with privacy glass and bodywork colour. Designed for all types of automotive glass, including vision glass (windscreen and front side windows), Pure Grey is a neutral glass which offers the same heat protection as standard green-tinted glass. With Pure Grey, AGC Glass Europe has succeeded in turning the sky… true blue!
Design & Style highlight
Pure Grey glass: a small revolution in car design. It offers neutral light transmission with excellent colour rendering, unlike green-tinted glass which significantly affects the perception of colours inside and outside the vehicle. When it comes to light reflection, the same neutrality supports the aesthetic drive for overall harmony, blending with privacy glass and with bodywork colours.
More information on Pure Grey automotive glass on agc-automotive.com
Innovation highlight
Pure Grey is an AGC exclusive – the first and only alternative to green-tinted glass. Its light transmission above 70 percent and TTS* above 60 percent, combined with its neutral colour, are unique on the market. It is available in standard thicknesses for the full car set.
(*) TTS: Transmission of Total Solar energy = amount of heat transmitted by the glass.