GE Plastics is so bullish on its potential, though, that the company is already devising ways to make Sollx mimic the odd imperfections of paint, so that a Sollx-coated fender will look indistinguishable from the painted metal body panel next to it. As Margaret Blohm, a research scientist at GE who headed Sollx's development, explains, "We could look better than paint. But right now, we have to look like paint."

Dumb.

While this might have an impact on the automotive market years from now, I don't see this happening any time soon for the following reason:

o The article already points out the cost is 3x. When you already have sunk cost in paint fab, you're not going to pay 3x for ANYTHING.
o As Saturn found out, plastic body panels are nifty for marketing, but actually more expensive in terms of production, assembly, and repair than metal. It's hard to compete with stamping metal, since we've been doing it that way since the 20s.
o Yes it reduces weight and provides for a more resilient finish, but hello? Safety? You ever see a Saturn get broadsided? Not pretty. Even if you reinforce structural integrity in the monocoque, you're still going to have higher repair expenses and definitely more damage per accident.
o It's from GE. GE is not exactly at the top of the list in terms of friends of the automotive business.
o They need to figure out a way to combine this process with carbon fiber, so that we can have strong *AND* pretty materials. Especially for my motorcycles.

A Glint in Detroit's Eyes