Corning's pioneering glass technologies are leading the automotive industry
The subject of today's episode, Corning, isn't exactly a company that you'd normally associate with cars. If fact, when most of us think of Corning, cooking is likely the first thing that springs to mind, specifically brands such as CorningWare and Pyrex cookware. But Corning sold off that part of the business way back in 1998. When it comes to Corning these days, it's more about its products like Gorilla Glass. Do you own an iPhone? The glass is from Corning. Odds are high your Samsung Galaxy phone uses it, too. As for the tie-in with automotive, in recent years Gorilla Glass has also been famously used for both the windshield of the Jeep Wrangler and the rear window of the Porsche 911 GT3 RS.
And as you'll hear, Corning has also been thinking long and glass hard about the future of the machines that will move us from place to place, with one of the key people driving that future being the VP and GM of Corning Automotive Glass Solutions, Mike Kunigonis. So, why are we speaking to Mike? Two reasons. The recent CES introduction of Fusion5 Glass and Corning's plan to get optical fiber into passenger vehicles.
More automotive technology: With Honda out, who saves Nissan? Possibly a company that makes iPhones
Fusion5 Glass is Corning's latest automotive glass product that's designed to better resist impacts, weigh less, and make it easier for ADAS systems to function. If you've ever had to replace a windshield, you know the cost involved, and that cost is rising. Corning claims Fusion5 can handle sharp impacts twice as well as conventional automotive glass. For a variety of reasons, not the least of which is electrification, cars are getting heavier. Saving weight any and everywhere is key, and lighter glass helps. And as cars and drivers become more and more reliant on varying levels of autonomy, any lens or sensor looking out from the inside needs to be able to see through the glass as clearly as possible.
In case you missed it: Fast wireless EV charging? It's coming.
But just as if not more exciting — at least from our admittedly geeky perspective — is Corning's push to get optical fiber into passenger vehicles. Better known as fiber optic cable (think Fios), optical fiber offers several advantages for carmakers and the resulting products. For one, weight. A single fiber optic cable could essentially replace most of the copper wiring inside a vehicle; in extreme cases like the Mercedes-Benz G-Class SUV we're talking some 2-miles worth. Aside from weight, optical cables can also move much larger packets of data. This is crucial given that the amount of data the cars of the near future will produce, use, and transmit up to and down from the cloud is expected to grow tenfold, with 100 gigabyte data packets potentially becoming the norm. Not only will optical fiber allow this (and more), but it also has the potential to future proof cars and car design. There's an environmental angle as well — with a dramatic reduction in copper use the mining of it also lessens.
Interested in hearing what Corning Automotive Glass Solutions is up to? Then you love this listening to this episode. Or better yet, watch it! Why not both? You can watch the vodcast right here or on our YouTube channel. If audio is your thing, download the podcast here or wherever you listen to your podcasts. If you like it, please tell your friends, share us on social media, like the video, and don't forget to give us a five-star review. Better yet, ask us a question, and if we use if on an episode, we'll send you some MotorTrend/The InEVitable swag. We hope you enjoyed this episode about the future of glass and the car. Remember, we'll be back next soon with another fresh episode of The InEVitable!
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