Chevrolet Volt Chief Engineer Andrew Farah. Click for more.
It turns out that Volt engineers, not designers, are “charged” with creating camouflage that weighs the need for styling secrecy with the requirement to validate the Volt and its systems on public roads.
“If it were up to me it would be a shoebox driving down the road,” said Lionel Perkins, GM camouflage engineer.
“The design team wants us to cover more of the vehicle and the engineering team needs to have enough of the vehicle’s weight and aero exposed exposed so that the tests in the development process are consistent with the product that will come to market,” Perkins noted.
Some of the tricks used are:
- Black and white patterns – The color scheme creates a shadow that hides vehicle design elements.
- 3D – Layered camouflage throws off onlookers, but has to be applied without interrupting airflow around the car.
- Swirls – In the old days of car camouflage, the design relied mainly on a grid pattern,
- but over the years engineers discovered that grids are difficult to realign if a piece is removed to make a change to the car. Swirl patterns are better at hiding changes.
- Bubble wrap – Camouflage can be made from many different materials including plastics, vinyl and foam. Good, old bubble wrap is a lightweight, easily attachable three-dimensional material used to confuse prying eyes.
The camouflage package on the next-generation Volt was started six months in advance of early development. The tricks are constantly updated to keep spy photographers – Jim Dunne, who graciously contributes to AutoInformed – and the curious guessing.
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