BMW created a color-changing car wrapped in electronic paper

Choosing a car color is not just regarding personal preference, there are other, more practical factors that come into play. Dirt stands out on a light-colored car, while a vehicle painted a darker shade can get very hot indoors from absorbing sunlight on a hot summer day. BMW envisions a future in which no one has to choose: change the color of your car it can happen in an instant by taking advantage of the same low-power display technology used by eBook or eBook readers.

The company revealed the new custom BMW iX Flow during CES 2022, and to say it’s some kind of giant Kindle is unrealistic. For starters, it doesn’t have access to Amazon’s online e-book store, nor does it have a soft, bright backlight that makes the car stand out in a parking lot at night. However, it features an outer wrap made from E Ink’s e-paper display technology, which uses tiny microcapsules of colored ink that rise or fall to change their visibility and produce specific colors, as well as patterns and designs. complicated, almost instantly. If you want to know more regarding this technology you can see this is video.

Image for the article titled BMW has created a color-changing car wrapped in electronic paper

Image: BMW.

The first consumer devices that used color electronic paper from E Ink were launched in late 2020, but BMW is not yet taking advantage of that technology. For now, the BMW iX Flow relies on black and white electronic paper to adjust the car’s external finish from darkest to brightest. It’s a neat trick, but also a practical way to improve vehicle efficiency. On a hot summer day, the vehicle’s finish can be changed to white to reflect the sun’s rays and help keep the interior cooler with less demand for air conditioning, while in cold winter changing it to black would have the opposite effect. , absorbing heat from the Sun to help keep the interior of the vehicle warmer naturally.

Image for the article titled BMW has created a color-changing car wrapped in electronic paper

Image: BMW.

Los autos a gasolina ya producen mucho calor como subproducto de la combustión que se usa para calentar un vehículo, pero un auto eléctrico necesita depender únicamente de los calentadores para mantener cálidos a los ocupantes, lo que puede consumir mucha energía. Un electric car Being able to absorb sunlight might, in theory at least, help extend the life and range of your vehicle’s battery.

Will we see cars wrapped in electronic ink hit the market soon? Probably not. Fixing a paint scratch on a vehicle is easy enough, but fixing a damaged e-paper panel is considerably more challenging and expensive. When we finally get human drivers off the roads and cars are truly autonomous, this idea might be more feasible. The bad news is that advertisers will likely take advantage of this, too, to turn every E Ink-wrapped car into a billboard on wheels.

.

Share:

Facebook
Twitter
Pinterest
LinkedIn

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.