BMW has unveiled the world’s first “color-changing” car at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) that took place in Las Vegas.
The concept car, called the BMW iX Flow, utilizes electronic ink technology generally found in e-readers to transform the vehicle’s exterior into a variety of patterns in grey and white.
“This is really energy-efficient colour change using the technology E Ink,” said BMW research engineer Stella Clarke. “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 vehicles.”
When stimulated by electrical signals which are controlled by a phone app, the material brings different pigments to the surface, causing the vehicle to take on a different shade or design.
In the future, the changes would also be controlled by a car’s button located dashboard or perhaps even by hand gestures, Clarke said.
No energy is required to maintain the colour the driver selects, according to the automaker.
Currently, the vehicle displayed at CES could only alternate between grey and white, the technology will be expanded to other colors, the automaker said.
