BMW Is One Step Closer To Selling You a Color-Changing Car

Source: Slashdot

Background

BMW’s earlier concept cars featured a patchwork of custom‑shaped E Ink panels that wrapped the entire vehicle. While visually striking, that approach was not practical for mass production and raised durability concerns.

New Development

At CES 2022, BMW moved the color‑changing technology closer to reality by embedding an E Ink panel directly into the hood of the iX3 Flow Edition. According to The Verge, this integration places the E Ink Prism technology within the vehicle’s structural hood panel rather than attaching it as an overlay. The system has “undergone BMW’s stringent quality testing” to meet automotive engineering standards and everyday use requirements, as noted in a release from E Ink.

Capabilities

• The iX3 Flow Edition’s color‑changing feature is limited to the hood.
• It offers eight different grayscale animations that the driver can select with the push of a button.
• While not yet a full‑body color‑changing car, this practical implementation brings the technology one step closer to moving beyond the concept stage.