CES 2022, held in Las Vegas, is being used by some car manufacturers to present their latest news. Although the American group General Motors has been the one that has brought the most proposals to the technology fair, the truth is that we cannot forget the role that firms such as BMW have played.
The Bavarian brand has revealed during the event the new iX M60, the most performance version of its electric flagship. However, this has not been the only novelty with which BMW has come, as it has also exhibited an interesting prototype called iX Flow whose main characteristic is its ability to change color.
Yes, you read that right: with the push of a button, the iX Flow’s body goes from dark gray to white. This is possible thanks to the use of E Ink technology, the same one that we find on the screens of Kindle eBooks. Thus, the exterior panels of the iX have been covered by a very thin layer made up of millions of microcapsules of electronic ink.
Using electrical impulses generated by the vehicle itself, the bodywork can change color at the will of the user. According to BMW, changing from a light tone to a dark one and vice versa could help to heat or cool the cabin depending on the season we are in, thereby improving the efficiency of the air conditioning system.
BMW has not specified if this technology will reach production
The company claims that this technology hardly consumes energy since the only current is needed to change the color of the body. Although at the moment the iX Flow can only switch between two shades, it is expected that the company will continue to evolve this technology to allow the selection of a complete color palette.
Will this interesting solution go into production? On paper, it seems unlikely. Why? Beyond the greater complexity of the car’s production process, which would also become more expensive, it should be noted the problem of rubbing a body covered with this “paint”: repairing scratches and bumps would become much more expensive and laborious.
