At the most recent Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas, the German manufacturer showed off its new ‘E ink’ on a concept iX Flow model.
The concept iX’s e ink surface contains millions of positively charged black pigments and negatively charged white pigments. E ink is the same technology used in e-readers and all that is needed to change the colour of the vehicle is an electrical field that can stimulate the surface into revealing either black or white paint.
This change of colour can be completed with just the touch of a button. At the moment, BMW has only demonstrated this with black, white and grey, however, they believe that this alone is enough to make a significant impact on the efficiency of electric vehicles.
BMW hopes that this technology can be used to keep your car cool during hotter weather by switching to a reflective white colour palette, and warm during colder weather by switching the car to a black exterior.
Not only does this technology bring practical benefits, but it gives customers more customisation over their vehicle which is becoming a greater selling point in recent years.
However, don’t expect this technology to come along too soon. BMW has said that it offers "the prospect of a future technology" and isn’t currently lined up for a production car.
