When the light from the vehicles behind strikes your rearview mirror, the mirror reflects it into your cabin. This light can blind you momentarily as you drive in Kalamazoo, MI, which is dangerous. Auto-dimming rearview mirrors were introduced to address this problem, and our team at Maple Hill Volvo Cars will explain below how they work.
When light from the rear traffic strikes these mirrors, they darken to avoid reflecting the light and making the driver blind. They achieve this through a concept called electrochromism. When an electric current strikes an electrochromic material, it darkens. Auto-dimming rearview mirrors have electrochromic material, sensors, and a microprocessor.
When light strikes the mirror, the sensors convert this light into an electric current. The electric current comes in contact with the electrochromic material and darkens it. The darkened material darkens the mirror. The extent of darkening of this material is dependent on the intensity of the light that reaches the mirror. The brighter the light, the more the mirror blackens.