On January 6, at CES 2022, BMW unveiled its all-new flagship electric SUV iX xDrive 40 and iX M60. In addition, BMW is equipped with a body color-changing technology rare in the automotive industry on the new flagship electric vehicle iX, which has attracted the attention and hot discussion of a large number of fans. In order to satisfy their curiosity, the official also released a video revealing the relevant technology.
Xiao Lei learned from the video that the body color-changing technology on bmw's iX Flow is called "electronic ink". To put it simply, it is through the dense circuit pulse inside, so that the ink changes the active state, so that the vehicle can achieve black, white, gray three color transformation, the special circuit layout so that the iX body has a special texture like a triangle diamond grid.
Interestingly, the iX Flow's color change process is similar to electrochromic change on smartphones, both are gradients. Therefore, the color change on BMW's new car can also do a variety of "flower work", such as breathing animation, color change stripes, etc., and it is possible to achieve atmospheric effect display according to the rhythm of the music, and the absolute return rate on the road is explosive.
To achieve the color-changing function on the body, it is much more difficult than attaching a matte film. The staff needs to complete multiple color-changing patches, install them separately according to the body shape, place the associated wires and ink storage bags in the car, and connect to the iX's car engine system to achieve breath animation effects. We look cool outside the car, and in fact the related parts may take up a lot of space inside the car.
The most valuable thing is that the rudder is also equipped with a color-changing patch, which is probably the detail of the big factory. Although the appearance of the iX M60 is not very high, it is draped in a color-changing leather coat, giving people a sense of mystery and science fiction.
As you can see from the video, the iX Flow's color-changing patch assembly is all done manually, and you can imagine how long it will take to produce such a car. Of course, if BMW intends to mass-produce, it should open a separate production line to improve production efficiency. However, the price of the ordinary version alone has dissuaded the vast majority of ordinary consumers, not to mention this special customized version.
Although this color-changing technology is very cool, but getting the license plate on the car management office should make the owner very embarrassed, after all, a car not only has three colors, but also can change animation and stripes at any time according to the needs, so that the car management office does not know what color to report. Some netizens expressed doubts, is it difficult to go to the vehicle management office for the record once in an hour?
In Xiao Lei's view, bmw iX Flow's discoloration technology is the same as the car in the science fiction movie, it is still far away from us, and there are no relevant regulations to deal with this technology, and it is a bit unsatisfactory to drive on the road.
Of course, as the R & D personnel said, this advanced color-changing technology can greatly meet the personalized needs of car owners, want to change a color, change a style no longer have to spend a lot of money to go to the auto parts store to paint or change stickers, maybe after the consumer demand is large, similar to the mobile phone electrochromic technology will come faster.