BMW’s colour-changing car has 32 shades and ‘almost infinite variety of patterns’

The Future of Automotive Customization is Here

Imagine your car shifting from a sleek, professional black to a vibrant, energetic white in a matter of seconds. This isn’t a scene from a sci-fi movie; it’s a reality demonstrated by BMW. The German automaker has turned heads and captured the imagination of the automotive world with a groundbreaking technology that allows a vehicle to change its exterior colour on command.

This innovation, first showcased on the BMW iX Flow featuring E Ink, represents a radical leap in personalization and functional design. Let’s dive under the surface of this mesmerizing technology.

The Magic Behind the Paint: It’s Not Paint at All

The key to BMW’s colour-changing car isn’t a magical liquid paint but a sophisticated wrap technology developed in partnership with E Ink—the same company responsible for the display in your e-reader.

The surface of the car is covered in a specialized material containing millions of microcapsules, each about the diameter of a human hair. These microcapsules are filled with negatively charged white pigments and positively charged black pigments.

• How It Works: By applying a controlled electrical stimulus to the material, the system can manipulate these pigments.

  • To create a white section, the negative field at the surface repels the white pigments, bringing them to the top.

  • To create a black section, a positive field does the same for the black pigments.

• The Result: This process allows the car’s exterior to shift between black, white, and a spectrum of grey patterns in a mesmerizing, wave-like motion. The best part? The technology is incredibly energy-efficient, only drawing power during the change itself, not to maintain a colour.

Beyond Aesthetics: The Practical Benefits

While the “wow” factor is undeniable, BMW’s vision for this technology goes far deeper than simple customization.

1. Temperature and Range Control: This is a significant functional advantage, especially for electric vehicles like the iX. A white surface reflects more than 90% of sunlight, keeping the car cooler in the summer. A black surface, conversely, absorbs heat, helping to warm the interior in the winter. By switching colours based on the season or weather, the car can reduce the load on its climate control system, thereby increasing the driving range of its battery.

2. Personal Expression on Demand: Your car becomes an extension of your mood and style like never before. You could match its colour to your outfit, your favourite sports team, or simply change it because you feel like it. This opens up a new realm of digital personalization.

3. Enhanced Safety and Visibility: While still a conceptual benefit, the technology could be used to create dynamic high-contrast patterns to improve visibility in poor weather conditions or to signal to other drivers, adding a new layer to vehicle-to-vehicle communication.

Is This the Future for All Cars?

While the current demonstration is limited to monochrome shades of grey, white, and black, the underlying principle paves the way for a full-colour future. E Ink has already developed advanced colour e-paper, suggesting that vibrant, multi-colour car wraps are a plausible next step.

However, don’t expect to order a colour-changing BMW just yet. The technology is still in the research and concept phase. Challenges like cost, durability against the elements, and regulatory approval for dynamic colour changes on public roads remain to be solved.

Conclusion: More Than a Gimmick

BMW’s colour-changing car is far more than a marketing stunt. It is a bold statement about the future of the automobile as a dynamic, responsive, and deeply personal object. By bridging the gap between aesthetic desire and functional utility, BMW has shown that the car of the future won’t just take you from A to B—it will adapt, express, and evolve with you along the way. The iX Flow isn’t just a car with a new feature; it’s a glimpse into a more interactive and personalized relationship with our vehicles.