Update 2: California “Cool Car” Regs May Mean no GPS, Radio, Cell phone Signals in the Vehicles
The latest input on the proposed law is from law enforcement. “A letter from the Peace Officers Association said, “The crippling of important GPS monitoring and the utility of cell phones to seek emergency assistance is not helpful.”“
The final tweaking of the law is expected in May.
- KCRA
——- update 11/24/09——-
The California Air Resources Board released a report (pdf) this month revealing what it learned in very limited tests of GPS devices and cell phones used in cars that had the coating on the front windshield. The results:
(1) Cell phones used in cities, with good signals were not impacted.
(2) GPS devices were, but performance was better when a “deletion window” (aka an area of glass without the coating) was included.
So, the report concludes:
In total, these results indicate that there are no effects of reflective glazing, and thus the Cool Cars regulation, on GPS monitoring ankle bracelets or cell phone usage in an urban environment.
—- original post 10/14/09——-
The “Cool Cars” regulations adopted by the California Air Resources Board (CARB) requires automakers to build cars and trucks with windows which prevent 45% of the sun’s energy from entering a vehicle by 2014, and 60% by 2016. Manufacturers are trying to do just that by using window glazing containing microscopic specs of reflective metal oxide.
That coating however, mess with digital signals. Garmin says GPS reception will be degraded. Cell phones, wireless laptop devices, garage door openers, and even ankle bracelets for parolees may be impacted, too. The technology was tried in Japan a few years ago and dropped due to the impact on signals.
- Autoblog
