TIME Magazine revealed today their annual list of the Best Inventions featuring 200 extraordinary innovations. Among them, the BMW iX Flow, otherwise known as the “Changing Color BMW.” The BMW iX Flow made its debut earlier this year at CES. But since, the color changing BMW has been displayed around the world, stunning people with this e-Ink technology. BMW used a finish derived from e-book readers by covering the body with a foil encompassing several million color capsules. Electrical signals stimulate negatively charged white or positively charged black pigments to alter the SUV’s look.
Earlier this year, Stella Clarke, the Project Manager behind the BMW iX Flow, said that one of the challenges was to mix a stiff, 2D bit of tech like the E Ink panels, to the 3D shape of the car’s body. What they did, then, was to split the car’s body in sections which were then promptly covered with the E Ink panels. It was a tedious process that took a lot of different tries to get right.
Some uses cases? For example, the heating of the vehicle and passenger compartment as a result of strong sunlight and high outside temperatures can be reduced by changing the exterior to a light color. In cooler weather, a dark outer skin will help the vehicle to absorb noticeably more warmth from the sun.
Much like the SAV with the “world’s blackest black,” the iX Flow won’t enter production. But BMW might use the tech to show future variants of it on different cars. For now, this one of the coolest car concepts we’ve seen, as portrayed in the videos below as well.
