from Tobias Stahl on January 6th, 2022
A BMW iX changes its body color at the push of a button – while driving! A visitor to the CES electronics fair in Las Vegas recently filmed what sounds unbelievable.
The Bavarian car manufacturer BMW is currently fascinating visitors to the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in the gambling city of Las Vegas with an innovation: In a TikTok video that is also on Twitter can be seen, the electric SUV BMW iX, which has been available since November, changes its color from black to white within seconds. BMW calls the model BMW iX Flow E-Ink.
Behind the effect is a technology that works in a very similar way to the color change in a chameleon or in some cuttlefish: A film applied to the body brings different color pigments to the surface through electrical impulses. So the car can switch completely or partially between black and white.
Project manager Stella Clarke and BMW-i design chief Dirk Müller-Stolz explain to the automobile portal Tracednews how the technology behind the BMW iX Flow E-Ink works. It is a special, rather stubborn film that had to be adapted to the iX: “We cut the film into small pieces with a laser in order to adapt it to the contour,” explains Müller-Stolz. “Since the foil is still quite hard, we cut a lot of connected small triangles into it.” That makes the film more flexible.
“The film part always changes its color as a whole or in a fluctuating movement. Depending on how the voltage is applied, the speed and the sequence of the color change change,” explains Clarke. The technology not only enables you to switch between black and white – basically all other colors are also conceivable, depending on the film used.
Not just fashionable frills but real added value
The whole thing should not only be a small – albeit impressive – gimmick, but could also bring tangible advantages when used on the road:
If Stella Clarke has his way, the slide could be used as a communication tool. In the case of electric car sharing cars, for example, the film can quickly and easily display information about the charge status of the battery from the outside, or enable autonomous cars to interact with passers-by. Additionally, black cars might turn white in summer so they don’t get too hot in the sun. This saves electricity that would otherwise be used for the air conditioning. In winter you could save heating energy by simply coloring the BMW iX black.
You might also be interested in: E-car subscription – an alternative to buying and leasing
You can now rent e-cars by subscription at a fixed monthly price – similar to e-bikes, for example. Almost all maintenance costs are included. The offers differ greatly from one another. EFAHRER presents the most important providers here.
E-car subscription: comparison of providers