What is this ‘thatched roof’ doing on a Jaguar XE? We explain

Summers are very unforgiving in India. The long summertime across the country sees the temperature reaching a high of 45 degree Celsius in many parts of the country and it becomes unbearable to be on the roads without an AC. Sometimes, even the AC of cars can become ineffective. Due to the heat during the summers, many European cars fail to maintain the cabin temperature too. This is why people resort to various methods to keep themselves cool. And sometimes, even their and houses and cars. Here is a bizarre scenario from Hyderabad, Telangana State where a Jaguar XE can be seen with a thatched roof.

Jaguar with desi jugaad

The car was spotted on the roof with a thatched roof tied securely in place. The all-black car was moving in traffic when spotted and the pictures have become viral on the Internet. We have received the pictures from a WhatsApp Group too. Two pictures of the car show that the vehicle gets the dried straw among various other vegetation. That roof can be watered and when the sun falls on it, the water vaporises ensuring that the surface below remains cool. This is a common practice to keep the homes cooled by a few degrees but this is the first time that we have seen such a fixture on the roof of a car. That too a Jaguar, nothing less.

The blue plastic sheet that can be seen under the thatch is to keep the roof of the Jaguar free from the moisture. Well, is an effective solution when used on the roof of a building but we are not sure how well it will work on a car. The closed cabin of a car can become extremely hot when it is parked without the AC running. The greenhouse effect ensures that the cabin temperature of the car is a few degrees hotter than the ambient temperature. Most of the greenhouse effect causes because of the large glass panels used on the car’s body. This is why cars with sunroof and panoramic sunroof becomes slightly hotter and becomes heated quicker too.

The Jaguar XE in the pictures gets a large sunroof and the black paint on the body makes sure that maximum heat is absorbed by the car’s body. It is quite possible that this thatch on the roof of Jaguar works quite well and keeps the cabin temperature a few degrees lower than the other cars. This also makes the AC of the vehicle much more effective. However, if the thatch is not attached properly, it can fall down during harsh brakings or high-speed turns. Now that this idea is out in the open, we may see more such contraptions in the future, especially from the summer-effected areas of the country.