At the last CES in Las Vegas, BMW presented the BMW iX Flow, a color-changing concept car that uses electronic ink. Some will remember painting chameleons that changed color depending on the orientation and intensity of the light. But this time it's completely different. BMW has teamed up with specialist E Ink, a company that develops protective films that can change the color of its BMW iX at will.

Thus, in the case of the BMW iX Flow, it is not the paint that changes color, but the self-adhesive film that covers all the body panels. It is this film that creates the visual effect.
To achieve this, it uses the principle of electrophoretic technology. In addition, it allows the glass of a sunroof to become opaque. An electric current flows through the film and allows the color to change from white to almost black, passing through different shades of gray.

The film is made up of millions of tiny "capsules" containing white pigments (charged with negative ions) and black pigments (positive ions). There seems to be a lot of room for color transitions that run through the bodywork.

For BMW Weber, BMW's managing director, "in the future, digital experiences will not be limited to screens. There will be more and more fusion between real and virtual. With the BMW iX Flow, we bring the car body to life." For the German brand, E Ink vinyls can provide a higher level of personalization to the brand’s customers, but not only.

The color of the car depends on our mood or weather

The innovative E Ink technology also opens up the possibility of changing the look of the vehicle, not only in terms of the driver's aesthetic preferences, but also in terms of environmental or functional conditions.

For example, in the hot summer sun, having a white car helps to lower the indoor temperature; black cars in winter would help keep them warm, however. In any case, BMW assures us that this would improve the efficiency of the car.

Another example of functional use: in the event of snow, in addition to headlights and taillights, of course, a black car can be more spectacular than a white car. Of course, black could also be used at night to try to camouflage it in a certain way. There may also be requests for emergency services.

BMW also states that this technology does not consume much energy by itself, as it consumes only the energy required to change color: then there is no need for an electric current to "maintain" the desired color.

The principle of electronic ink is basically the technology found in Kindle-type electronic reading devices (e-books). Unlike more traditional screens, this technology is very energy efficient, which is why BMW has chosen to use it.

We may see it in the future in the catalog of brand options, along with BMW Individual paints.