Electric paint that lights up!

Walking through the lobby between the North and Central Halls at SEMA we saw a more or less standard customized motorcycle. Then we saw it light up! Not with a light shining on it, and not with neon lights shining under it. But we saw the bike itself light up. It looked like it was translucent and hollow and there was a light bulb inside, but that was not the case. The paint itself was lighting up!

OMG! Freak out!

The bike was the so-called Dragon Bike demonstrator from LumiLor Labs, which painted it and into which you should pour all of your venture capital right now. Find your friends' venture capital and pour that in, too.

“We paint with light,” said LumiLor's Shawn Mastrian, flicking a switch on and off as the Dragon Bike went from just another motorcycle to the Ride of Choice of the Lone Biker of the Apocalypse.

How? What? When? Duh… we asked.

Mastrian gave an explanation similar to what you'll find on the LumiLor website:

At the sub-atomic level, the process behind electroluminescence is radioactive recombination in which phosphorescent substances emit photons in response to alternating current.

We tilted our head like that dog on the Gramophone label.

A company called DarkSide Scientific invented a way to spray on electroluminescent coatings using standard HVLP paint guns. They patented the process in September. First, whatever you're going to paint -- the metal, wood, carbon fiber, whatever -- is primed to insulate it from the 0.7 mA AC current per square inch required to light up the paint. The actual LumiLor coating is only 0.0003-inch thick and is covered with a tinted clearcoat. It can go over black, so that the surface looks completely unremarkable until you throw the switch then, voila -- it suddenly says, “Eat More Beans!” or “Buy Berfloozer Beer!” or “Subscribe to Autoweek, Ya Cheapskate!” in glorious electroluminescent color.

Imagine having a whole car done this way! Or a plane, boat or any darn thing.

Not just anyone can do this, though.

“You're spraying on electrical conductant, so you have to be a little smart about how you apply it,” said Mastrian.

Training is required for end users. You don't just get a spray can at Pep Boys and have at it. You also have to carefully subtract colors from the standard shades sold in order to get your own choice. “Additive coloring does not work with LumiLor,” the company states.

So it's not simple. But it sure is cool. See www.lumilor.com.

SEMA — short for Specialty Equipment Marketing Association — is the biggest aftermarket auto event in the world, held in Las Vegas each fall. The show fills multiple convention halls and shows off everything from high-performance OEM specials to custom wheels and graphics from local shops. Get the full rundown on what automakers and suppliers are up to at the industry's biggest trade show at our SEMA Show home page.

By Mark Vaughn