German car manufacturer BMW has unveiled the world's first "colour changing" car at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas.
The concept car, called the BMW iX Flow, uses electronic ink technology normally found in e-readers to transform the car's exterior into a variety of patterns in grey and white.
This is really energy efficient colour change using the technology E ink. The material can be described as a thick like paper and the real skill was being able to transfer that onto a vehicle.
When the material is stimulated by electrical signals controlled by a phone app, the material brings different pigments to the surface, causing the car to take on a different shade or design, such as racing stripes.
In the future, the changes would also be controlled by a button on the car's dashboard or perhaps even by hand gestures. No energy is needed to maintain the colour the driver selects according to BMW.
This could have benefits by utilising the colours influence with the sunlight's reflections. On a hot sunny day you could switch the colour to White to reflect the sunlight. On a cold day switch the colour to Black to absorb the heat.
Though the vehicle currently displayed could only alternate between Grey and White, the technology will be expanded to cover a spectrum of colour, according to BMW.
Here at Advanced Vehicle Contracts we believe that this is a mere glimpse into the future of motoring.