During the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas last January 2022, Luxury German carmaker BMW unveiled the world’s first color-changing car.
BMW iX Flow, the proof-of-concept car, uses electronic ink technology to alter the car’s exterior into various patterns with gray and white colors.
Stella Clarke, BMW research engineer, said, “So we took this material – it’s kind of a thick paper – and our challenge was to get this on a 3D object like our cars.”
Using a phone app, change in electrical signals stimulate the material to change the pigments exhibited on its surface.
Clarke said changing the car’s color with a click of a button or via hand gestures is also a possibility in the future.
This one-of-a-kind feature is sure to leave impressed reactions from onlookers. However, its aesthetic also aims to be functional.
“On a hot, sunny day like today, you could switch the color white to reflect sunlight. On a cold day, you could switch it black to absorb the heat,” Clarke explained.
Having trouble finding your car in a sea of SUVs in the parking lot? You can make the car’s exterior flash with the use of the phone app.
As of now, the iX Flow model could only alternate between gray and white, but BMW will further develop its technology to integrate other colors.
Source: Reuters Interesting Engineering