Auto glass Ford GT half made of Gorilla Glass

Gorilla Glass is used in billions of smartphones, and now the automotive industry is eyeing it. Thin and durable glass will reduce the weight of the car. Due to this, fuel consumption is reduced and driving characteristics are improved.

BMW AG was the first to put Gorilla Glass in the car. Last year, the i8 hybrid sports car came out, in which the dashboard is covered with this glass. But these are toys, but the American company Ford uses Gorilla Glass to the fullest : in the new 2016 Ford GT sports car, the windshield, rear window and even the engine cover are partially made from it.

Experts say this is a major innovation in auto glass since 1923, when Henry Ford installed the “safety” triplex glass on Model T.

An ordinary triplex is made of two layers of glass, between which a plastic layer is glued under heating. When hit, the glass does not shatter into fragments, but remains glued to the plastic: a pattern similar to a web forms.

Ford GT windshield - hybrid. On the outer layer there was annealed glass and in the middle a layer of plastic, but the inner layer was replaced with Gorilla Glass - a special chemically enhanced version of Gorilla Glass “automobile grade”.

Although only one of the two layers was replaced, but thanks to this, the windshield became 32% lighter. True, the cost has increased by $ 24-48, but for the GT sports car this is not important ($ 400,000).



Corning guarantees that the glass fully complies with safety standards and has withstood numerous impact tests on roads and wind tunnels. Ford says it's even stronger than tempered glass. Gorilla Glass does not crack under pieces of ice where ordinary glass does not stand. Such pieces of ice, as in the photo, simulate a powerful hail.



Gorilla Glass is not suitable for side windows: it is too durable. Automakers specifically install safety glass there without a plastic layer, so that the driver and passenger can knock them out and get out of the car in case of an accident.

Gorilla Glass brand appeared on the consumer electronics market in 2007. Ford and Corning began working together on car-grade glass in 2012. At the same time, Corning is working with several other automakers: all of them are trying to at least slightly reduce the weight of the car to reduce fuel consumption and meet new stringent environmental standards that will come into force soon. In general, automakers are losing weight in every way possible. For example, Toyota makes the roof of the Prius V station wagon from durable plastic.

A shot of ice in a glass with a layer of Gorilla Glass

If the cost of Gorilla Glass falls, then it can be put not only in the Ford GT sports car, but also in the budget Lada.