Gorilla Glass for Automotive | The Glass Age | Corning

The windshield on any vehicle is a very important element. While it helps you to see clearly in order to navigate and drive, the technology that lies within the windshield – and any other window in your vehicle – is improving your ride in ways you might not have realized if equipped with Corning® Gorilla® Glass for Automotive.

Did you know that most vehicle windows are comprised of multiple layers of material? A conventional window is comprised of a soda-lime glass outer layer, a PVB thermoplastic middle layer, and a soda-lime glass inner layer. Working closely with automotive manufacturers, Corning has engineered a unique three-layer laminate, reworking the stack to be comprised of a soda-lime outer layer, PVB middle layer, and a thin, tough Corning® Gorilla® Glass for Automotive inner layer.

What exactly does swapping out the inner soda-lime layer with Corning® Gorilla® Glass for Automotive enable? A lighter, tougher, and more optically advantaged ride.

“Corning® Gorilla® Glass hybrid windows are innovating the driving experience,” said Eric Biribuze, product line lead, Corning® Gorilla® Glass for Automotive Glazing. “By enabling improved fuel efficiency, and providing increased impact resistance and larger viewing areas, when compared to conventional windows, Corning is answering the call for cleaner, safer, more connected vehicles.”

Windows equipped with thin Corning® Gorilla® Glass for Automotive can be up to one-third lighter than windows made with two thick layers of conventional soda-lime glass. This lightweight benefit of your windshield, side windows, and sunroof can enable improved fuel economy, better performance and handling due to a lower center of gravity, faster defrost and defog, and reduced carbon emissions.

The toughness you associate with Gorilla Glass and your smartphone translates over to the automotive industry as well. Gorilla Glass hybrid windows can be up to two times tougher than conventional windows due in part to Corning’s proprietary fusion-draw process and chemical strengthened glass composition. Windows made with an inner ply of Gorilla Glass are two times more resistant to both blunt and sharp stone impacts on the outer ply that decreases the chance of glass spall (fragments) entering the cabin. This impact resistance also leads to fewer cracks that could potentially propagate on your windows, resulting in fewer necessary windshield replacements.

With its exceptional optical clarity and reduced visible draw lines, Gorilla Glass can afford the driver and passenger clearer windows which are better equipped to feature display technologies. Imagine a head-up display (HUD) three times larger than what you’re used to with less image distortion and reduced ghosting ─ with Gorilla hybrid windows, that’s exactly what you get.

Whether you’re the driver looking out the windshield or the passenger peering out any of the side windows, with Corning® Gorilla® Glass for Automotive, we’re enabling a lighter, tougher, and more optically advantaged ride, making your driving experience cleaner, safer, and more connected.

Dreaming of a vehicle decked out in Corning® Gorilla® Glass for Automotive? Learn more about Corning® Gorilla® Glass for Automotive Interiors and see how we’re bringing the smartphone experience into your vehicle.