PPG has announced that it has collaborated with electric vehicle (EV) maker Lucid Motors to develop unique exterior colour effects for Lucid Motors’ luxury EV ranges using the PPG Andaro pigment nano dispersion technology. The technology provides dramatically higher chroma, or colour intensity, as well as increased transparency and clarity.
The companies used the technology to develop a series of unique colours for the Lucid Air sedan and Lucid Gravity SUV ranges, including Zenith Red, the luxurious and popular garnet hue unique to Lucid Motors.
It uses a high concentration of PPG Andaro pigment in both the basecoat and tinted clearcoat layer, including black to add depth.
“Exterior colours are hugely important when curating a luxury EV brand identity,” Lucid Motors’ colour, material and finishing (CMF) design director, Nicola Danks, said.
“Using a tailored approach inspired by space, energy and time, our two companies collaborated on the use of new pigments, tri-coats and increased colour travel effects, resulting in a sophisticated and competitive colour offering, capturing the spirit of the vehicles and both brands’ values.”
PPG colour core team technical supervisor, Mallory Prylinski, said, “PPG Andaro technology has been used in various colour spaces and layerings to enhance transparency and chroma, and we continue to find new ways to use it to achieve standout effects for our customers”.
“In metallics, it can increase ‘flip-flop’ colour changing and achieve cleaner colour overall. The haziness or diffuse scattering characteristics of some waterborne technologies or conventional tint pastes is also lessened when PPG Andaro is introduced,” he added.
The colour offerings for the Lucid Air range also include Stellar White, which surpasses the intensity of other white tri-coats with a clean, bright hue and a fine, silky mica layer, and Cosmos Silver and Quantum Grey fine metallics, which use thin-milled and fine pearl products to achieve subtle silky effects.
The Lucid Gravity range is offered in a series of high-travel liquid metallics that reference key colours in the California landscape and unique special effects. These include Lunar Titanium, which includes fine yellow pearl to create a warmer, sun-influenced highlight – its travel index is very high due to the use of thin-milled effect pigments.
Aurora Green uses a multilayer thin-film flake composed of magnesium fluoride and aluminium to produce a diffractive rainbow effect, while Supernova Bronze uses a vacuum metallised pigment to create a true bronze hue with a chrome metallic effect.
“This collaboration between PPG and Lucid Motors exemplifies how pigment technologies and visionary design can come together to redefine the aesthetics of electric mobility,” Prylinski said. “By leveraging the advanced capabilities of PPG Andaro technology, the two companies have created a distinctive and emotionally resonant colour palette that enhances the identity of Lucid Motor’s luxury EVs.”