Check out BMW’s new color-changing concept car, the i Vision Dee

What if the colour of your automobile might change based mostly in your temper or the climate?

That is the thought — or, no less than, one of many concepts— behind BMW’s new “i Imaginative and prescient Dee” idea automobile, a midsize electrical sports activities sedan lined in futuristic panels that may change colour on demand.

BMW describes it because the world’s first “color-changing” automobile. The Dee, which stands for “Digital Emotional Expertise,” can cycle between 32 totally different colours, the company said in a press launch on Thursday, whereas unveiling the automobile on the 2023 Shopper Electronics Present in Las Vegas.

The automobile can cycle between 32 totally different strong exterior colours, with mix-and-match capabilities because of its 240 totally different panel segments. That is a big leap previous BMW’s earlier iteration showcased final yr, which might solely alternate between black, white and grey.

As with every idea automobile, the expertise behind the Dee’s color-changing capabilities is probably going years away from client availability. Publicity to the weather in day-to-day driving — from automobile washes to flying bugs — retains the high-tech panels from performing in the true world, The Verge famous Thursday.

For BMW, the automobile is supposed as a glimpse of what might ultimately be a way more colourful future. “This permits an virtually infinite number of patterns to be generated and diversified inside seconds,” the corporate stated in its press launch, which described the sunshine present as a “magical show of colour.”

The Dee’s outer pores and skin is a movie fabricated from digital paper constructed by a startup known as E Ink, which additionally makes show tech for e-readers and cellphones. The coating segments include thousands and thousands of tiny microcapsules with totally different colour pigments that change shades when electrical energy is utilized.

The digital coating is “ultra-low energy,” so altering the automobile’s colours will not drain the electrical automobile’s battery, E Ink stated in its personal press release on Thursday.

E Ink additionally stated it is in a position to manufacture its panels in any form possible — doubtlessly resulting in functions like e-reader screens that mimic the look of precise paper or extra energy-efficient digital indicators and smartwatch shows.

BMW hasn’t launched specs for the Dee’s engine or battery, however says the idea automobile is moreover loaded with futuristic {hardware} and software program that’ll be obtainable in automobiles on the street by 2025.

That features BMW’s Head-Up show, a digital dashboard that spans your entire width of the windshield. It additionally contains a Blended Actuality Slider, a touchscreen that lets you management how a lot digital content material is displayed on that dashboard, from driving velocity and battery vary to music controls and textual content messages.