BMW Has Plans To Actually Sell Cars Clad In Changeable E Ink Full-Color Film

September 6, 2024 by Dave Haynes

Hat tip to German content partner invidis for noting this … here’s my take:

When E Ink worked with BMW to make a demo car to clad a vehicle with a color-changing film, it was widely regarded as an interesting bit of trade show booth eye candy for the throngs of gadget-lovers  meandering the aisles of CES in Las Vegas, and to also generate press attention.

E Ink and BMW did it in 2022 and again in 2023, but back in January of this year, no BMW. 🙁

It seemed very much like something that COULD be done, but who actually would? However, there is now word that BMW plans to mass produce Beemers in three to five years that would, or more likely could,  as an option have the same color foil on the chassis that is used for E Ink’s premium Spectra 6 color displays.

Stella Clarke is the Aussie BMW engineer  behind the vehicle prototypes with e-paper foiling, and she confirmed to an auto publication, also Aussie, that there could be cars with changeable skins on the road by 2027.

This concept understandably came across as a gimmick for trade shows, and Clarke concedes any early production models will add a premium to cars that already have premium pricing. We can safely assume a BMW buyer is less fixated on price than someone buying a Kia, so what’s another, I dunno, $3K when the thing already costs $65K (or more).

While the short term buying profile will likely be people who are deeply in love with themselves and want to be noticed, there are some very practical aspects to this … longer-term.

For fleets run by local governments or private companies, vehicles could in theory have different colors or messaging on the vehicle bodies, based on how they are being used. Imagine a “ghost” police SUV that has no markings (so speeders are oblivious), that then switches on markings when the lights and sirens are hit to chase down a speeder or respond to calls.

Taxis, instead of a teeny light on the dash or roof indicating availability, could be green when free and red when unavailable.

And of course, advertisers could in theory book ads on fully wrapped vehicles and effect changes by loading new files and changing the look with software – with no printing or labor costs.

BMW’s Clarke also raised the interesting notion that manufactured cars clad in this technology could ship in one color and be tweaked by the buyer at the dealership – so they don’t just get a car that’s the factory painted blue, but could be tweaked to be the owner’s particular shade of blue.