Glass roof UV reduction efficiency measured (@ First Mile Dallas)

[texasBuzzard]

I have a friend with a tesla which has a glass roof who also lives in Texas. He said it gets very hot inside when parked and when he was driving on sunny days. He bought an aftermarket shade that springs open, folds up easily like a windshield shade. It looks great and works very well. Hopefully someone will design and develop something similar. I have seen two Rivians in my city of Bryan/College Station, TX this week alone!

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[AbhorViolence]

For what it's worth, I'm having Xpel Prime CS 88 tint put on the windshield. On the outside of the windshield and on top of the roof glass, I'm having Exoshield applied. The Prime CS 88 tint still transmits 86% of visible light while rejecting 99% of the UV and ~58% if the IR. I've been told it has none of the low-angle haze present in some other tints and far less of that oil-slick look you can get with polarized sunglasses (a must for me to kill glare).

The Exohield also takes out about 99% of UV, so that's a bit of overkill, but it'll also add glass protection to the windshield and roof. Being a sports junkie and living in the insurance field, I've seen the occasional rooftop cargo bar take an incoming fastball and lay down a bunt that makes it into your infield, otherwise known as the interior. Really spectacular play if someone's 90 feet away and heading home with the game on the line, but not so fun if you're 90 miles from home, and heading out on vacation in a driving rainstorm.

It's not a solution, but it's a start. If it stops even a little of the heat from coming through the roof (along with smaller rocks - the large ones won't be deterred), all the better. I'm actually toying with having a smaller pattern of high IR-rejecting tint put on the outside of the roof before the Exoshield. If the tint were cut to cover the inside dimensions of the opening and the Exoshield covers the tint, and the rest of the glass all the way to the edges, I'd think we'd avoid the phenomena of glass exploding due to interior tint retaing the heat as @SoCalTravels mentioned previously.

Looks like that Prime CS is a regular film (not ceramic), as you and others have alluded to, hence the low IR number. So I'm not really sure the point of doing that on the windshield, where I would imagine the main concern is IR (heat). UV protection is nice too I suppose. The obvious solution would be a ceramic film but that brings up the whole haze issue, which is why I ended up not doing the windshield when I did ceramic all around on my current car.

 

[AbhorViolence]

Someone needs to get ceramic tint on the windows, windshield and roof and let me know if its worth it.

I can say it's definitely been worth it on my current car (VW GTI), fronts, backs and rear. Decided to leave the sunroof as is because it's already tinted from factory and has a sliding cover on the inside that blocks most of the light. Windshield I left alone as well because ceramic can cause a "banding" look at angle.

 

[cohall]

Based on that recent video somebody posted of their trip to Death Valley, some sort of screen would still be welcomed...

 

[moosehead]

Based on that recent video somebody posted of their trip to Death Valley, some sort of screen would still be welcomed...

The Rivian Diaper. Patent pending.

Low UV transmission, cuts down on swass.

 

[AbhorViolence]

Based on that recent video somebody posted of their trip to Death Valley, some sort of screen would still be welcomed...

Dang this is making me a little concerned as I definitely plan on spending a lot of hours driving in desert areas, and I'm quite sensitive to the sun/light.
I hope there will end up being a safe way to add ceramic tint. It's a bit disappointing Rivian didn't do this from factory.

 

[Joel&Sue]

I am planning on using curtain tension rods, the smal diameter ones and either sunbrella or a phifertex material to start. May have to add clips on the sides. Or May tension the long length. Hmm. May also add insulating layer between sunbrella layers. Alternative is Velcro mounting but not wanting to attach to glass.

 

[onthebrake]

On our last panoramic roof we asked 3 different tint shops about doing our roof and none of them would do it. They all said adding tint to the inside of the glass roof pushes too much heat back through the glass and we risk the whole roof shattering on a hot day. We were firmly told not to do it.

I’m not an engineer or a scientist. So can’t speak to if what we were told is correct or not. But if Southern California tint shops won’t do it, I will probably not do it.

I just had my front windows and windshield tinted on my R1T and the shop I go to ( 3 vehicles now they have done. ) does the roof too along with many other shops on youtube. I think you got a rookie and he's scared. Or, I'll eat my words ! I'm good either way.

I can feel the heat from the glass roof too, but not as bad as the passengers in the back seats feel it, so they told me. I'll be having that done but just not right now as I've been spending a lot of money lately.

 

[thrill]

Glass will indeed shatter if it gets hot enough and pressure builds up. I parked my Celica one cold rainy day and went on a long trip out of country. About two weeks later the weather at home had shifted to really warm and I got a phone call from a friend. The rear window had exploded, and he sent pictures. There was nothing but little glass cubes for a dozen yards behind and beside the vehicle.

 

[texasBuzzard]

Glass will indeed shatter if it gets hot enough and pressure builds up. I parked my Celica one cold rainy day and went on a long trip out of country. About two weeks later the weather at home had shifted to really warm and I got a phone call from a friend. The rear window had exploded, and he sent pictures. There was nothing but little glass cubes for a dozen yards behind and beside the vehicle.

That happened to a vehicle I had when I got the hatchback glass tinted. Blew out and shattered it.

 

[texasBuzzard]

I found a shop in my town that has done multiple Tesla roofs and a Rivian roof. The picture attached is the product and my finger on the left is the strength they recommend. It is a ceramic based product

 

[Singletracker]

I don’t know anything about tinting roof glass. From what I’m reading, it seems that the breakage issue is related to tinting the interior of the glass. I can see how that might reflect heat back up into the glass potentially creating a problem. Aren’t there exterior tinting options that would actually reflect heat away from the glass and thereby provide some insulation for the interior? Having to put some Mickey Mouse shade on the ceiling of my new $80,000, high tech car sounds pretty darn ridiculous.

One advantage of my FJ is, all windows, including the windshield are pretty vertical. Even sitting out on the hottest days, it never heats up inside.

 

[Attesan997]

I don’t know anything about tinting roof glass. From what I’m reading, it seems that the breakage issue is related to tinting the interior of the glass. I can see how that might reflect heat back up into the glass potentially creating a problem. Aren’t there exterior tinting options that would actually reflect heat away from the glass and thereby provide some insulation for the interior? Having to put some Mickey Mouse shade on the ceiling of my new $80,000, high tech car sounds pretty darn ridiculous.

One advantage of my FJ is, all windows, including the windshield are pretty vertical. Even sitting out on the hottest days, it never heats up inside.

I'm by no means an expert but since tint is traditionally applied to the interior I'd think there'd be less of an interest in developing something to affix something externally. Especially something that would need to deal with the elements. I felt the same about buying a shade for my MY but I put it in last year and never took it down. I'm hoping I can use the ventilated seats to offset the heat from the roof in the warmer months and in the winter I probably wouldn't mind any extra heat.

 

[dduffey]

Watching this thread. I have two Tesla's, one with the older "colored" UV protection and a newer tinted one. Both feel fine for me in Texas.

I am curious if there is a good heat/UV external ppf option that would work well on the glass roof. If there is and it's easy enough for DIY I may just experiment on the current cars.

 

[Cway]

I really wish they kept the option for a traditional roof when they first announced the vehicle. As the driver I could care less about the passengers looking out the top, and it would avoid issues like this.

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