Can’t decide on the colour of your next car? Well, BMW has you covered with their all-electric iX Flow, which changes from black to white at the push of a button.
The German automobile firm unveiled the chameleon-like sports activity vehicle today at the Consumer Electronics Show, which is being held in Las Vegas, Nevada.
The colour changing ability uses the same ‘E ink’ electrophoretic technology built into the screens of e-Book readers, except applied to a special car body wrap.
Electrophoresis works by using an applied electric field to separate molecules — in this case, black and white pigments — based on their respective electric charges.
Alongside the aesthetic benefits, changing the car’s colour could also be used to take some of the strain off of the air con/heating system, the designers explained.
In the future, the same technology may also be applied to the inside of new BMW models, allowing drivers to change the colour of their car interior as well.
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Can’t decide on the colour of your next car? Well, BMW has you covered with their all-electric iX Flow, which changes from black grey to white (as pictured) at the push of a button
The German automobile firm unveiled the chameleon-like sports activity vehicle (pictured) today at the Consumer Electronics Show, which is being held in Las Vegas, Nevada
The colour changing ability uses the same ‘E ink’ electrophoretic technology built into the screens of e-Book readers, except applied to a special car body wrap (pictured)
Electrophoresis works by using an applied electric field to separate molecules — in this case, black and white pigments — based on their respective electric charges
‘Digital experiences won’t just be limited to displays in the future,’ said BMW board of management member Frank Weber.
‘There will be more and more melding of the real and virtual.
‘With the BMW iX Flow, we are bringing the car body to life,’ he added.
According to BMW, the surface of the iX Flow contains millions of microcapsules — each of which have a diameter similar to that of the thickness of a human hair, and contain both negatively charged white pigments and positively charged black ones.
When the E ink body wrap is stimulated by an electric field, and depending on the polarity, either the black or the white pigments collect at the surfaces of the microcapsules, giving the car the desired colour.
‘This gives the driver the freedom to express different facets of their personality or even their enjoyment of change outwardly,’ said iX Flow project head Stella Clarke.
Furthermore, she added, the owner can ‘redefine this each time they sit in their car.
‘Similar to fashion or the status ads on social media channels, the vehicle then becomes an expression of different moods and circumstances in daily life.’
Unlike conventional displays, E ink requires no additional energy to maintain a chosen colour state after switching — meaning that it is very energy efficient.
BMW said that they used laser-cutting techniques to ensure the high precision fabrication of each segment of the body wrap.
Following the application of each segment to the vehicle and the connection of the power system that applies the electric field, the entire body is warmed and sealed to guarantee optimum and uniform colour reproduction with each change.
According to @Out_of_Spec on Twitter, who uploaded a video of the iX Flow yesterday, the system has one weakness — in that it is temperature sensitive.
The social media user wrote that BMW had brought two of the cars to CES 2022, and were keeping the second one ‘in a trailer in case [the first one] gets too hot/cold.’
This suggestion would fit with the operating parameters for E ink, whose matrix displays, for example, only operate between 32–122°F (0–50°C).
Alongside the aesthetic benefits, changing the car’s colour could also be used to take some of the strain off of the air con/heating system, the designers explained
In the future, the same technology may also be applied to the inside of new BMW models, allowing drivers to change the colour of their car interior as well
As well as letting drivers switch car colours at a whim, the E ink technology could help improve the energy efficiency of the iX Flow’s heating, ventilation and air conditioning systems.
This is because white surfaces reflect more incoming sunlight than black ones — a principle which has long been exploited in arid countries where houses are painted in lighter shades to help keep them cooler by absorbing less energy.
In a similar fashion, one might change the colour of the iX Flow to white to take a little of the strain off of the air conditioning system in the summer, or switch to black in winter to make the most of whatever sunlight might fall on the car.
Both approaches would help to reduce the demands on the vehicle’s electrical system and make a single battery charge go further.
If applied to the interior of the car, the same concept in the future could help stop the dashboard from heating up too much in the summer.
‘The BMW iX Flow is an advanced research and design project and a great example of the forward thinking that BMW is known form,’ concluded BMW Group Design’s head Adrian van Hooydonk.
‘Digital experiences won’t just be limited to displays in the future,’ said BMW board of management member Frank Weber. He added: ‘There will be more and more melding of the real and virtual. With the BMW iX Flow, we are bringing the car body to life’