HotShot® Makes Ice Scrapers Obsolete
Snow, ice and freezing rain. There's no worse forecast for drivers than the frigid winter months. It means manually scraping snow and ice from windshields in the bitter cold.
Now, a revolutionary de-icing technology makes ice scrapers obsolete. HotShot® is the patented cycling, hot-fluid, de-icing, system designed and manufactured by Microheat, Inc., a Tier-One Supplier to the automotive industry.
"HotShot's® speciality is intelligently spraying the right amount of fluid at the right temperature at the right intervals using just the right amount of energy," says
Ron Gardhouse, Microheat's CEO. "HotShot's® all-weather, all-season heated fluid system stands head-and-shoulders above cold fluid for removing ice, snow, road grime and bugs from the windshield."
The system, which runs in both Park and Drive, produces optimal results in less than 90 seconds, even when the engine is cold. All that's required is the push of a button. Any washer fluid will work.
"Visibility should never be compromised when a driver sits behind the wheel," says Pilibosian. "HotShot® enables drivers to clear the windshield with the push of a button at any time - while the car is stopped or in motion. This technology raises the bar on security, comfort and efficiency, and will soon be a standard feature in new cars."
HotShot® is now available on a variety of General Motors' vehicles - including the Cadillac DTS,
CTS and Escalade, the Buick Lucerne, the Chevrolet Tahoe and Suburban, the GMC Yukon and the Hummer H2.
Other auto manufacturers globally are currently testing the HotShot® product.
"In research conducted by J.D. Power and Associates, 69 percent of drivers surveyed expressed interest in having a system like HotShotﾂｮ
on their next vehicle.
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HotShot® Removes Bugs, Pollen and Road Grime from Windshields with Hot Fluid
Winter isn't the only season that HotShotﾂｮ is designed for. It's a
year-round technology that can
just as effectively clear
windshields of dust, mud, road
grime, sticky pollen and swarms
of bugs that are impossible to
scrape off with a squeegee, not
to mention messy bird droppings
and tree sap. Manually removing the dirt from your windshield is never fun or easy in any season. And standard washer/wiper systems never quite do the job right.
Enter HotShot® - a revolutionary clearing technology that makes squeegees obsolete and dramatically improves performance of washers and wipers. HotShot® is a patented cycling, hot-fluid, cleaning and de-icing system designed and manufactured by Microheat. It represents the greatest breakthrough in windshield wiper technology in over 75 years.
The ability to clean and clear windshields in any season is a big part of why HotShot® has been the recipient of numerous awards.
In April 2007, Microheat won the
World Traffic Safety Achievement
Award for the supplier category. In 2006, it was named one of 22 finalists for the Automotive News PACE Awards, which celebrate innovation by original-equipment suppliers of products and processes. In 2005, Frost & Sullivan presented Microheat with the Excellence in Emerging Technologies Best Practices Award; Popular Mechanics deemed it the "Outstanding Achievement in New Product Design and Innovation." And RoadStar magazine and Newport Publications awarded Microheat top honors in 2004.
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HotShot® Featured in GM National Ad Campaign for 2006 Buick Lucerne
HotShot® was recently featured in a prominent national television and print campaign by Buick.
Heralded as a top feature of the new 2006 Buick Lucerne, the HotShot® heated washer fluid de-icing system was highlighted in national television commercials on CNN and in print advertisements in USA Today and the New York Times.
The TV spot, with creative by McCann Erickson, shows snowflakes gently falling, then focuses on a single crystal as it descends onto the windshield of the Lucerne. Accompanying voice-over reads:
"Consider the snowflake. No two alike. Each one a miracle of nature. And nothing gives us more pleasure than eliminating them with a blast of streaming washer fluid pre-heated up to 149 degrees. That's gotta hurt. Heated washer fluid in the all-new Buick Lucerne. Beyond precision."
"General Motors clearly views HotShot® as a valuable feature
as noted with heated wash being
featured in several national advertising campaigns."
This says a lot given that GM
has consistently led the
industry in introducing
innovations that enhance safety,
convenience and customer
satisfaction. We value our
relationship and the exposure
and credibility these
advertisements bring to our
product in invaluable.
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HotShot® Profiled on News Programs Across the Country
True innovation is always newsworthy. And Hotshot's® unique consumer-driven technology has been featured on numerous news programs in the past year. Click on the icons below to see how the press has covered this emerging technology...
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Fact Sheet: Microheat Inc. and HotShot®
Location:
Farmington Hills, Michigan
Founded:
Microheat was founded in 1997 and became a Tier 1 supplier to the automotive industry in 2002.
Company:
Microheat is a privately held company, fully focused on the design, manufacture, production and sale of its advanced fluid heating system products and related components for integration into washer/wiper system modules of cars and trucks. To date, Microheat
has received seven U.S. patents
and 55 patent applications globally. The company is TS16949 and ISO 9001:2000 certified.
About HotShot®:
Microheat's proprietary HotShot® technology is a revolutionary hot washer fluid and windshield de-icing system. It represents the biggest breakthrough in windshield cleaning technology in the last 75 years since wipers were introduced.
HotShot® features a patented cycling technology that intelligently heats washer fluid to the right temperature and sprays it at specific intervals to quickly and efficiently remove snow, ice, bugs and road grime from windshields, windows, headlights and radar sensors. HotShot® seamlessly integrates into existing vehicle hardware, software, and mechanical architecture.
How HotShot® Works:
The system makes ice scrapers obsolete. HotShot's® patented heated fluid windshield clearing and de-icing solution enables drivers to remove snow, ice, road grime, insects, sticky pollen and leaves within seconds with the push of a button while sitting inside their vehicle.
The system works on all vehicles - cars, trucks, vans and school buses. It fits compactly under the hood and weighs only 1.1 pounds. HotShot's® specialty is intelligently spraying the right amount of fluid at the right temperature at the right intervals using just the right amount of energy - all with the push of a button. HotShot® operates in two modes - automatic and standby. Automatic is used for removing ice, snow, sleet, dirt and insects before driving. Washer fluid is sprayed 4-8 times at approximately 149ﾂｺ F, following an initial spray at 161.6ﾂｺ F. Standby is used to remove snow, sleet, ice build-up on wiper blades, and dirt, insects, etc. while driving. Washer fluid is sprayed "on-demand" at approximately 131ﾂｺ F.
HotShot® is the only product with proprietary software, microprocessor and hardware that intelligently cycles heated washer fluid for efficient windshield de-icing and cleaning in under 90 seconds. Heated windshields, by contrast, take eight minutes to clear frost but don't remove insects and debris or clear wiper blades. Plus, they are substantially more expensive, require more power, and are expensive to replace should the windshield become cracked or damaged.
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The HotShot® Process
- From a cold start, even in the worst weather conditions, HotShot® delivers heated washer fluid to the windshield in about 30 seconds, with subsequent automatic cycle sprays about every 5-9 seconds to clear windshields.
- HotShot® creates an initial burst of hot steam, which is followed by hot fluid that, even in freezing temperatures, clears frozen fluid lines, unclogs clogged spray nozzles and other washer system blockages.
- HotShot's® blasts of hot washer fluid quickly un-stick frozen wiper blades and prevent build-up of ice and snow. Since rubber wiper blades deteriorate quickly when operating over frozen, uneven windshield surfaces and when foreign material is allowed to build up on the blades, HotShot® significantly improves the blades' effectiveness and longevity.
- Tests conducted by Microheat using different types of bug wash and windshield cleaner fluids have shown that HotShot's® hot fluid system cleans windshields more rapidly and effectively than cold water - in all driving conditions. Moreover, using HotShot® reduces the average amount of fluid necessary for the satisfactory removal of oil and bird droppings by half, when compared to fluid applied without HotShot®. As a corollary, HotShot® was found to significantly extend the time required between reservoir refills.
- HotShot's® heated washer fluid provides a natural heat exchange when applied to a cold windshield, enabling a quick and convenient means to defog windshields, especially at night, on cool mornings, or at other times when conditions are right for condensation.
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Microheat Named Pace Award Finalist
Microheat was named a finalist for the 2006 Automotive News PACE Awards, which celebrate innovation by original-equipment suppliers of products and processes. In its twelfth year, the award honors automotive suppliers who have embraced innovation or adapted and reinvented themselves to meet the demands of the original equipment manufacturers.
The Automotive News PACE Award sets the standard for innovation and excellence and has become a significant industry credential. Microheat was selected from thousands of automotive suppliers from around the world. Past recipients include: DuPont Automotive Coatings, Motorola, TRW Automotive, Siemens VDO Automotive, 3M Automotive, Robert Bosch Corp., and Denso
Corporation.
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2007 World Traffic Safety Award
The award was presented today at the New York International Auto Show. The World Traffic Safety Symposium was formed to address the growing concern of traffic injuries and fatalities on roadways. The Symposium is dedicated to bringing auto manufacturers, public and private organizations, and the media together to share information and discuss innovative ways to make automobile travel safer.
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