CES never seems to disappoint when it comes to products with a “wow” factor, and BMW’s experimental colour-changing vehicle is a perfect example of this.
The Germany-based luxury car manufacturer calls the vehicle the iX Flow. It features a wrapped with a layer of E Ink containing several tiny microcapsules with white and black pigments.
“Each capsule contains differently charged white, black or coloured particles which become visible when an electric field is applied. This creates what is known as an Electronic Paper Display (EPD),” reads BMW’s CES 2022 recap post.
BMW HAS A COLOR CHANGING CAR IN LAS VEGAS RIGHT NOW! #CES2022 pic.twitter.com/vgKMDiRedE
— The Kilowatts 🚗⚡️ (@klwtts) January 5, 2022
With the push of a button, you can cause the black or white pigments in said microcapsules to rush to the top surface, allowing the car’s exterior to change colours. According to BMW’s presentation, the colours are currently limited to white, black and grey.
This color changing @BMWUSA #iX is wild! It’s apparently very temperature sensitive so they have a backup in a trailer in case this one gets too hot / cold pic.twitter.com/lXG1Gw0IKY
— Out of Spec Studios (@Out_of_Spec) January 4, 2022
BMW further stated that the change of colour wouldn’t just be aesthetic and that the exterior colour black could help absorb heat during cold winter days while the white would block and deflect back sunlight on warm summer days.
BMW didn’t talk about how weatherproof the outer coating is. Also, what happens when the vehicle gets scratched up or dented? I would assume that the cost to re-apply or patch such a coating would be hefty. That being said, don’t expect to see these cars driving around any time soon.
BMW says this is just an “advanced research and design project” which might make its way to the public sometime in the future.
You can check out more news from CES 2022 here.
Image credit: BMW
Source: BMW
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