According to The Verge, BMW recently debuted its newest technological advancement at the Las Vegas 2022 Consumer Electronics Show. Everyone scurried for a better view as the German automaker utilized the new 2022 iX M60 electric SUV to display its unique color-changing technology.
Don’t get too excited, though; it’s just personalisation taken to a whole new level. BMW isn’t prepared to release a vehicle that can change color with the push of a button from red to blue to orange. Right now, just white, black, and gray are available. The good news is that you don’t have to stick with a single color, and according to BMW, this new paint even allows you to make moving patterns. There may not be as many options as they would want, but there are still many options available.
It’s still a really cool idea, though. The driver simply needs to click a button to alter the hue. But how did BMW manage to do it?
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It changes colors using E Ink, just like a Kindle e-reader.
It may sound like science fiction to change a car’s exterior color with the touch of a button, but the technology to do so has been in development for more than a decade. Although it hasn’t entered mass production, BMW’s latest iX Flow concept demonstrates that at least one automaker is working to make it a reality. The iX Flow, which made its debut at this year’s CES, is a nice first step in that direction even though it can’t flip from red to black to blue just yet.
The iX Flow uses E Ink, the substance that powers the paper-like displays of e-readers like the Amazon Kindle, to produce its color-changing façade. Millions of E Ink microcapsules, each one around the thickness of a human hair, were used to create a unique wrap that BMW used to cover the iX. Each capsule contains both positively and negatively charged black and white pigments. The white or black pigments then assemble at the surface of the microcapsules as a result of an electrical field.
BMW created a color-changing vehicle.
This BMW can change its appearance at the touch of a button thanks to the same technology used in e-readers.
Currently, altering the outside color of an automobile requires a standard painting procedure. What if you could accomplish that by pressing a button, though? With the aid of E Ink technology, BMW is researching this feature, and this week the German carmaker presented a color-changing prototype automobile to CES 2022.
This electric SUV concept, known as the iX Flow, changes the exterior color nearly instantly thanks to the electrophoretic technology used in E Ink. How does it work? A unique wrap on the iX stimulates pigments of various colors to rise to the top. The color-changing effect can appear in stripes, blotches, front-to-back, side-to-side, and other patterns. These adjustments are possible because to the E Ink wrap.
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Implementing E Ink offers two major advantages. First of all, it makes a whole new realm of personalization possible by enabling owners to alter the color and style of their vehicle in accordance with their mood, circumstances, or other factors. The vehicle “becomes a representation of various moods and circumstances in daily life,” according to Stella Clarke, project manager for the iX Flow. The only colors available at the moment, though, are black, white, and gray, which is OK if your “various moods and circumstances in daily life” included being depressed on a rainy day. (I can identify.)
The further advantage? a rise in effectiveness. White cars will stay cooler than black ones on hot, bright days because they reflect more sunlight. Similar to how dark exterior hues help a car absorb more sunlight and heat on chilly days. Even if the difference is modest, BMW claims that it can lessen the amount of heating or cooling required to condition the car on hot or cold days, improving its overall operating economy.
The iX Flow’s wrap is formed of segments of e-paper, and it uses the same E Ink technology as e-reader tablets. Because of this, the iX can only change colors in the grayscale; but, as E Ink technology advances to support more bright colors (ideally), the iX Flow will be able to do the same. Even while the concept is cool, it’s impossible to predict whether BMW will ever put color-changing body panels into production.
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Since its introduction in 1997, E-Ink technology has demonstrated its value in a variety of contexts, including laptop screens, digital whiteboards, and even personal accessories. At CES 2022, BMW showcased an e-ink vehicle exterior that can change colors based on the weather and traffic conditions, or just the driver’s attitude. This technology has finally reached the automobile sector.
In response to your initial query, no, despite being displayed at the exhibition on a live demonstration vehicle known as the BMW iX Flow with E Ink, this future technology is not yet ready for mass production.
The electrophoretic coloring substance is used as a vehicle body wrap and functions similarly to how e-ink displays do in Kindles. Millions of microcapsules, each holding a negatively charged white pigment and a positively charged black pigment, are inserted throughout the wrap. Applying an electrical charge to the substance will, depending on the environment, induce either the white or the black pigments to rise to the top of the microcapsule, changing the color of the vehicle in a matter of seconds.
The palette could potentially be enlarged to show the whole spectrum of colors, even if the current version can only switch between a pair of hues. In a prepared statement, Stella Clarke, Head of Project for the BMW iX Flow incorporating E Ink, said, “This provides the driver the freedom to communicate different elements of their personality or even their appreciation of change outwardly, and to redefine this each time they sit into their car.” The vehicle then turns into an expression of many moods and situations in daily life, similar to fashion or the status updates on social media channels.
E-ink external displays may also be beneficial for more practical purposes, including changing colors in response to the temperature to extend a car’s battery life (and hence its range) in cold climates or lessen the need for air conditioning in hot climates.
BMW has unveiled a vehicle that uses E Ink to change its color.
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BMW unveiled a vehicle with an exterior E Ink coating that can change color.
E Ink, the same technology that powers Amazon Kindle ebook devices, can now cover the entire outside of a car. At the CES 2022 technology trade event in Las Vegas, the business debuted the vehicle.
Munich-based BMW is utilizing it so that customers can show their personality by customizing their vehicles’ exterior and interior. With this vehicle, you can easily add anything like a racing stripe along the middle or instantaneously change the color from black to white.
BMW stated that, eventually, there will be a huge variety of colors available. However, the business is still evaluating how the modifications affect the colors of black and white at this time. The product has passed the company’s testing in a range of weather situations.
BMW vehicles come equipped with My Modes, which let the driver completely customize the interior environment to match their mood and desired driving experience.
With the BMW iX Flow with E Ink, the automaker provides a way to customize a vehicle’s exterior to various circumstances and personal preferences. At the driver’s command, the electronic ink’s surface can change its color.
Future digital experiences won’t be restricted to displays alone, according to a statement from BMW AG board member Frank Weber. “The actual world and the virtual world will increasingly converge. We are bringing the automobile body to life with the BMW iX Flow.”
A newly created body wrap that is precisely molded to the curves of the BMW all-electric Sports Activity Vehicle allows for the smooth color changes. The electrophoretic technology raises various color pigments to the skin’s surface when triggered by electrical signals, giving the skin the desired hue.
According to Adrian van Hooydonk, head of BMW Group Design, “The BMW iX Flow is an advanced research and design initiative and a superb illustration of the forward thinking that BMW is recognized for.”
‘With the Touch of a Button,’ BMW’s New Car Changes Color
Self-expression and personalization are proving to be key CES 2022 themes.
The major statement made by BMW today, a system that allows a car’s color to be changed at the push of a button, demonstrates that the illustrious German automaker grasped the task. The technology was unveiled on the company’s new 100% electric iX Flow SUV concept. The iX Flow will soon have a production model, but it will be some time before cars with color-changing paint make their way to car dealership showroom floors, if they ever do. The chameleon-like façade is what BMW refers to as a “advanced research and design endeavor.”
The color-changing paint is a brand-new, eye-catching use of well-known technology. The paint BMW introduced today is powered by E Ink, the “electric paper” technology that fuels e-readers like Amazon’s Kindle. About the thickness of a human hair, microcapsules are infused into the ink. These microcapsules include negatively charged white pigments and positively charged black pigments. The electric field surrounding the capsules is altered by the user’s input, which pushes some of the pigments to the surface and alters the color of the paint. Currently, the technology comes in white, black, and a few other hues of grey.
Stella Clarke, who oversaw the project for the company, said that this technology “gives the driver the ability to communicate different elements of their personality or even their pleasure of change outwardly, and to redefine this each and every time they get into their car.” BMW also makes reference to further useful applications. White paint may keep interiors cooler in hot weather by reflecting light, which lowers the energy required for air conditioning. Contrarily, black absorbs light and may lower the amount of energy required to maintain a vehicle’s comfortable temperature.
This article has been updated, so please note that. The trademark for the color-changing paint’s technique is “E Ink,” not “E-Ink.”
With the touch of a button or, if you prefer, by tapping the screen of your smartphone, BMW’s iX Flow changes from white to black.
A automobile that changes colors was been unveiled by BMW, one of the most incredible innovations in the automotive industry. At the push of a button, the company’s electric iX SUV’s paint job changes from black to white.
Thanks to products like dual-tone pearlescent paints, we’ve already noticed some kind of color alteration. However, this is fully powered by electricity, and you can use your smartphone to control the adjustments. You can select from numerous automotive components like hoods, bumpers, even rims, as well as the overall paint scheme, which can change from black to white or vice versa.
The Kindle e-reader from Amazon uses essentially the same technology. Millions of microcapsules suspended in a liquid make up a specifically made body wrap. These capsules have colors inside of them that have variously charged particles. The colors will switch depending on whether an electric charge is applied to the wrap in a positive or negative direction.
Similar to the Kindle, the on-display iX had a body wrap made of white and black pigments. Whites have a negative charge while blacks have a positive one. As a result, when a positive charge is given to the wrap’s surface, the blacks recede and the whites rise, giving the car a white paint job. If there is a negative charge, the impact is the opposite, with the black pigments rising and the white pigments descending.
The segments of the E Ink-wrapped iX were also precisely carved to fit the contours of the vehicle, enabling extremely fine-grained control of the color patterns.