There's more Corning in cars than you think
Windshields, dashboards, and augmented reality displays are just the start...
Smart glass in consoles.
Ceramics for emissions control.
Emerging technologies for sensing and microchips.
Fiber connecting computer chip to computer chip.
There's More Corning in your car than you think. And that technology makes your car smarter.
"The amount of Corning technology in our vehicles these days is a testament to two things,” says Cassandra Taliaferro, Senior Vice President & General Manager, Automotive. “One, the company’s ability to invent and deliver next-level technology to automakers, and two, a specific ‘More Corning’ business strategy that aims to place more content per vehicle.”
Get to know the Corning technology in your vehicle:
Dashboards & consoles
Corning glass brings the smartphone experience to driving. AutoGrade™ Corning® Gorilla® Glass far outperforms plastic and conventional glass when it comes to durability, touch sensitivity, and optics.
Glass displays in your car provide a luxurious aesthetic and brings the world to your fingertips. Their sleekness replaces old, clunky displays and enables the smart, crisp capabilities of LCD and OLED.
As automakers look to bring more shape and intricate designs to the dashboards and console displays, Corning® ColdForm™ Technology plays a crucial role. ColdForm Technology allows glass to be bent at room temperature, allowing for more shape possibilities and a more sustainable solution for forming glass. As far as differentiating designs, Corning’s latest technology, Dynamic Décor™, allows automakers to take their designs to the next level. Dynamic Décor redefines the in-cabin experience by concealing a display entirely behind convincing true-color patterns, such as wood, leather, or carbon fiber.
Corning develops the advanced glass substrates – such as Corning® EAGLE XG® Glass and Corning Lotus™ NXT Glass – used inside LCD and OLED display panels. The right advanced glass helps deliver the vibrant, high-quality displays we've come to expect in all aspects of daily life.
Optical coatings expertise
Corning’s expertise in technical glass stretches from the deep molecular properties of the material itself to the surface technology that helps enhance readability for drivers. Corning Automotive Glass Solutions offers a suite of surface treatments that help reduce reflection, glare, and fingerprints.
Windshields & windows
Corning makes automotive exterior glass that is lighter, more durable and has better optics for automotive windows, windshields, and roofs when compared to conventional soda-lime glass (SLG) – perfect for providing exceptional optics and the protection of cameras and sensors, supporting EVs and efficiency of conventional internal combustion engine vehicles. Corning offers two solutions to help with these trends: Corning® Gorilla® Glass used for the inner ply and Corning® Fusion5® Glass used for the outer ply.
Head-up displays
Head-up displays, known as HUDs, use mirrors to project driving information, such as navigation and speed, onto windshields, putting it directly within the driver’s line of sight. This information is normally viewed from the instrument cluster. HUDs can turn the windshield into an immersive display screen, projecting large and dynamic images onto the road. Corning® Curved Mirror Solutions utilizes a proprietary forming technology for freeform distortion-free mirrors to help project critical driving information onto your windshield.
LiDAR cover window solutions
As autonomous vehicles grow in popularity, Corning is focusing on creating high-quality cover windows for next-generation long-range LiDAR sensors used in advanced driver-assistance systems (ADAS) and autonomous vehicles. These cover windows require excellent infrared optics, durability, and specific aesthetics. While plastic covers have traditionally been used, many manufacturers are moving to glass due to its superior scratch resistance, optical transmission, stability in harsh environments, and long-term durability.
Emissions Technology
Corning’s emissions control technologies have prevented billions of tons of exhaust pollutants like hydrocarbons, nitrogen oxides, carbon monoxide, and soot particles from entering the atmosphere since the 1970s. Located in the catalytic converter, Corning’s ceramic substrates help to neutralize the gaseous pollutants in engine exhaust and Corning’s particulate filters capture microscopic particulate emissions. As emissions regulations around the world tighten, this progressing technology is helping more and more internal combustion engine and hybrid vehicles to reach near-zero levels of emissions, accelerating a cleaner world for all of us.
Microchips
Your car is a computer. From starting the engine, to enabling automatic braking systems, deploying airbags, turning on backup cameras, and so much more, the microchips in our cars make driving smarter. Corning optical materials and components are embedded at nearly every step of the microchip manufacturing process from inspection to photolithography to packaging, helping consumer electronics we use every day to work smarter and faster.
Connectivity
Advanced driver-assistance and safety features require powerful computing and sensing, along with network data rates in the multi-gigabit range. Corning’s optical solutions, such as optical cable, connectors, and cable assemblies, are robust, reliable, and specialized for the automotive market. That means your whole car is connected and providing you with an even smarter driving experience.
Advances in new energy
Corning’s innovations continue to play a vital role in the development, production, and use of new energy sources. Corning scientists and engineers are working on industrializing thin ribbons of ceramics that can be incorporated into new energy systems. Some of Corning’s Ribbon Ceramic materials conduct oxygen ions to aid the production of green hydrogen, while other Ribbon Ceramic materials conduct lithium ions and are being explored for solid state and lithium metal batteries. Someday these advantaged batteries using Corning’s Ribbon Ceramic materials could be powering your future vehicle.