What if your car changes color based on your mood or the weather?
That’s the idea — or at least one of the ideas — behind BMW’s new “i Vision Dee” concept car, a futuristic paneled midsize electric sports sedan that can change color on demand.
BMW describes it as the world’s first “color-changing” car. Dee, which stands for Digital Emotional Experience, can cycle through 32 different colours, The company said in a press release on Thursday, during the vehicle’s unveiling at the 2023 Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas.
The car can cycle between 32 different solid exterior colors, with mix-and-match capabilities due to the 240 different panel slats. This is a huge leap past BMW previous iteration Introduced last year, which can only alternate between black, white and gray.
As with any concept vehicle, the technology behind the Dee’s color-changing capabilities will likely be far from consumer availability. Exposure to the elements in everyday driving—from car washes to flying insects—prevents high-tech panels from performing in the real world, the edge Notice Thursday.
The composite image shows some of the possible color combinations of the colour-changing BMW i Vision Dee concept car.
Source: BMW
For BMW, the car is meant as a glimpse into what could be an even more colorful future. “This allows an infinite variety and variety of patterns to be created in a matter of seconds,” the company said in its press release, which described the light show as a “magical show of color.”
Dee’s outer shell is a film made of e-paper created by a startup called E Ink, which also makes display technology for e-readers and mobile phones. The paint strips contain millions of microcapsules with differently colored pigments that change shades when electricity is applied.
E Ink said the e-paint is “very low,” so changing the car’s colors won’t drain the electric car’s battery. press release Thursday.
E Ink has also said it’s able to fabricate its panels into any shape imaginable — which could lead to applications such as e-reader displays that mimic the look of actual paper or more energy-efficient digital signs and smartwatch displays.
BMW hasn’t released Dee’s motor or battery specifications, but says the test car is additionally loaded with futuristic hardware and software that will be available in cars on the road by 2025.
This includes BMW’s Head-Up Display, a digital instrument cluster that spans the entire width of the windshield. It also contains mixed reality sliders, a A touch screen allows you to control the amount of digital content displayed on this dashboard, from driving speed and battery range to music and text message controls.
The interior of the BMW i Vision Dee concept car.
Source: BMW
