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In the interior of current BMW models, digitization ensures a holistic user experience characterized by individuality and emotionalization. My Modes offer the driver the opportunity to tailor the atmosphere in the interior to suit their personal mood and the driving experience they want. With the BMW iX Flow featuring E Ink, the Munich-based premium car manufacturer is offering a preview of a future technology at CES 2022 that uses digitization to adapt the exterior of a vehicle to different situations and individual wishes. The body surface of the BMW iX Flow featuring E Ink can vary in color at the driver's request.
BMW iX Flow featuring E Ink
Frank Weber, Member of the Board of Management of BMW AG for Development: "In the future, digital experiences will not only take place on displays. The real and the virtual will increasingly merge with one another. With the BMW iX Flow we bring the body to life. "
The flowing color change is made possible by a specially developed body wrapping precisely tailored to the contours of the purely electrically powered Sports Activity Vehicle from BMW. Stimulated by electrical impulses, the electrophoretic technology brings different color pigments to the surface, through which the body image takes on the desired coloration. "The BMW iX Flow is an advanced research and design project and a good example of the thinking ahead that the BMW Group has demonstrated time and again.,“Says Adrian van Hooydonk, Head of BMW Group Design.
The innovative E Ink technology creates completely new possibilities to change the appearance of the vehicle in such a way that it corresponds to the aesthetic preferences of the driver, the environmental conditions or functional requirements. The technology thus offers unprecedented potential for customization in the area of exterior design. The BMW iX Flow featuring E Ink demonstrates this potential in an impressive way. On this basis, the BMW Group is advancing the development of technology so that a new form of customization can be experienced both in the exterior and in the interior of future series vehicles.
The selected body color is already an expression of the driver's personality. The selection of exterior paint finishes available for current BMW models covers a wide range of colors. The tendency towards a particularly expressive, extravagant or sporty appearance on the exterior can be taken into account in this way, as can the desire for a subtle, subtle or elegant appearance. Year after year, new variants are added that are based on the characteristics of the respective model and with which the brand repeatedly sets trends in the field of exterior design.
A whole new freedom of choice can arise in the future through the use of innovative technology. "This gives the driver the freedom to express different facets of his personality or the joy of diversity and redefine it on every journey," says Stella Clarke, head of the BMW iX Fow featuring E Ink project. "The vehicle will then, like fashion or the status displays on social media channels, become an ambassador for different moods and situations in everyday life. "
Changing exterior color as a contribution to increased efficiency.
A changeable exterior color can also contribute to the well-being in the interior and to the efficiency of the vehicle. For this purpose, the different abilities of light and dark colors in the reflection of sunlight and the associated absorption of thermal energy are taken into account. A white surface reflects significantly more sunlight than a black one. As a result, when there is strong sunlight and high outside temperatures, the heating of the vehicle and its interior can be reduced by changing to a light exterior color. In cooler weather, on the other hand, the vehicle with a dark outer skin absorbs noticeably more heat from the sunlight.
In both cases, a specific color change can be used to ensure that the cooling or heating output of the vehicle's air conditioning system can be turned down. This reduces the energy requirements of the on-board network and with it the fuel and power consumption of the vehicle. In a purely electrically powered automobile, the weather-dependent color change can therefore also contribute to increasing the range. In the interior, for example, using the technology could prevent the dashboard from heating up excessively.
The E Ink technology itself is characterized by high energy efficiency. Unlike displays or projectors, electrophoretic technology does not require any energy to keep the selected color state constant. Current only flows in the short phase of the color change.
Millions of microcapsules in a tailor-made film.
The electrophoretic coloring is based on a technology that was developed by E Ink and is also used in a similar form in e-book readers. Several million microcapsules are incorporated into the surface coating of the BMW iX Flow featuring E Ink, each with a diameter equivalent to the thickness of a human hair. Each of these microcapsules contains negatively charged white and positively charged black pigments. Depending on the selected setting, stimulation by an electric field ensures that either the white or the black pigments collect on the surface of the microcapsules and thus give the body the desired color.
The E Ink surfaces consist of precisely cut ePaper foils that are applied to the body of the vehicle. In order to ensure that the foiling also reproduces the characteristic contours of the vehicle and the resulting light and shadow gradients, a 3D model of the respective body segment is divided into individual segments of different sizes and transferred to a two-dimensional pattern. With generative design and special algorithms, a tailor-made structure that is precisely matched to the lines and surfaces of the body is created for each segment.
The corresponding segments are then cut out of the E Ink film webs using laser cutting technology. This makes the two-dimensional material flexible enough to be applied to the three-dimensional body. After applying the film segments and connecting the power supply for the excitation of the electric field, the entire body is heated and sealed in order to ensure optimal and even color rendering on the entire body with every switchover process.
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Magical color change on the exterior: BMW iX Flow featuring E Ink.
Photo credit: BMW
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