Car News

Watch how a car is painted… by 84 robots (video)

Seat has revealed how it uses robots to paint its cars and how it comes up with the colours it uses…

WHEN IT COMES TO PAINTING new cars quickly, robots can’t be beaten. Seat has revealed a video and stills of how it creates its colours and then how 84 robots apply the paint to the body panels.

When the Range Rover Evoque was first launched, I got to take a look around the factory in the UK, where it was being built. We didn’t get to see much, and we weren’t allowed to take pics but we did get to spend five minutes watching robots paint the new Evoque and it was mesmerising.

I never knew, but according to Seat it takes 1000 days for it to develop and sign-off a new shade of colour for use. “In addition to following trends, a lot of intuition also goes into defining a new shade. You have to feel the pulse on the street and run with it,” said Jordi Font from SEAT’s Colour & Trim department. Around 1000 litres of paint are needed to create a new colour, “by mixing 50 different pigments and metal particles we’ve created nearly 100 variations of the same colour to see which shade is the most suitable”, added Carol Gómez from the Colour & Trim department.

“Colours get more sophisticated every day and the demand for customisation is a growing trend,” said Font.

Once the colour has been selected and it comes to painting the car, the temperature is set to between 21 and 25 degrees. Two and a half kilos of paint is applied on each car in an automated process performed by 84 robots that takes six hours per vehicle.

“The paint booths feature a ventilation system that is similar to the ones found in a surgery room to prevent dust and other impurities from the exterior to settle on the freshly painted cars. Seven coats in all, each as thin as a hair width but as hard as a rock, which are baked in an oven at 140 degrees,” said Seat.


Subscribe
Notify of
guest
3 Comments
Oldest
Newest Most Voted
Inline Feedbacks
View all comments
McF1
McF1
6 years ago

Interesting video.
Isaac, I notice that there are articles regarding “myth-busting”.
Here is something else to add to “myth-busting” in regards to red paint;
I had spoken to a friend indicating that maybe my next car could be a red one. He says that red fades away more rapidly/more-so than any other colour especially in a sunny climate like WA.
Is that a fact or a myth?
Does solid red paint fade more rapidly than metallic red paint?
Or, was red paint from a few years ago not as good as red paint of today, so nowadays having red is not as much of a concern regarding fading?
Is it best to avoid buying a red car in a sunny climate?

Katarina L
Katarina L
6 years ago
Reply to  McF1

I thought this was due to cars originally not having a clear coat finish over the paint. The early clear coats weren’t that good as they tended to break down over time due to the effect of UV exposing the paint underneath to harsh UV light. Over the last decade or so paint technology has improved so much this shouldn’t happen anymore. The clear coat has a UV blocker which helps to protect the underlying paint and prevent fading and oxidation.

McF1
McF1
6 years ago
Reply to  Katarina L

Thanks for your thoughts.

Isaac Bober

Isaac Bober