BMW's color-changing car concept is back at CES

It’s CES 2023 now, and companies are making waves with their upcoming devices and concepts. Among the products announced, we have the progress on BMW’s color-changing car concept. At CES 2023, BMW showed off its i Vision Dee.

Last year, the popular automaker gave us a glimpse of what it wanted to bring to the world. It was a car that could actually change its color digitally. This was called the iX Flow, and it could switch its color from black to white to gray. As limited as the color palette was, that was still rather impressive.

Now, BMW unveiled its i Vision Dee at CES

This isn’t as much a new concept as it is an update on what was showcased last year. Think of it as more of a progress report. The company showed off this concept along with a short film starring Arnold Schwarzenegger, David Hasselhoff, and Dee herself.

What differentiates Dee from the iX Flow is the fact that the car has access to actual colors. Instead of only being able to produce monochromatic colors, the car can choose between 32 colors to produce. That’s not exactly an OLED panel, but it’s a major step in the right direction.

The BMW was able to achieve this by using E-ink panels on the car’s body. The car is expected to use 240 E-ink panels all around, and they could be controlled individually. Not only will the car’s body have them but the wheels will also be adorned.

In the short film, we also see the windows getting the same treatment. We see the outside of the driver’s window and the inside of the windshield displaying images, but we’re not sure if they’re going to be using the same technology. That would have to involve transparent technology.

In any case, this is all a concept. This means that, for the time being, the only way we’ll see this car on the road is with the magic of CGI. Who knows if we’ll ever see this car up for sale? The company is working on making the E-ink panels more resilient to the elements and car washes.