From the Tesla Cybertruck to the Avatar-inspired Mercedes (yep, we've erased that one from our memories too), plenty of weird and wonderful car designs have hogged the headlines over the last few years. But BMW's e-ink-fuelled colour-changing concept might just be the wildest yet.
Revealed at the 2023 edition of CES in Las Vegas this week, BMW's 'i Vision Dee' is, apparently, capable of being rendered in up to 32 different hues. And it's all thanks to the car's 'ePaper' surface. It's basically an enormous Kindle with wheels. (Fancy creating your own car concept? Check out the best 3D modelling software.)
Promotional images of the i Vision Dee (Image credit: BMW)
The ePaper exterior is divided into 240 sections, which BMW claimed at CES, “allow an almost infinite variety of patterns to be generated and varied within seconds.” And the results are admittedly impressive, with the car shapeshifting almost as dramatically as Die Another Day's 'vanishing' Aston Martin.
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Promotional images depict the i Vision Dee in various zingy hues – and various combinations of said zingy hues too. It's certainly striking, but then these are of course promotional renders – the real test will be how bright and crisp the ePaper body proves to be in direct sunlight. Still, if it looks anything like BMW's demo, this is certainly a tantalising proposition – and could spell the end of the days of agonising over which colour to choose (and subsequently wishing you'd gone for black instead of hot pink).
The colourful version of the car was revealed at this week's CES in Las Vegas (Image credit: BMW)
One thing's for sure – the future of cars looks anything but boring. From the Cybertruck to the aforementioned Avatar monstrosity, we've seen plenty of imaginative designs lately. And then there's the Apple car, which may or may not come to fruition – but is already spawning some incredible fan-made renders.
Daniel John is Design Editor at Creative Bloq. He reports on the worlds of design, branding and lifestyle tech, and has covered several industry events including Milan Design Week, OFFF Barcelona and Adobe Max in Los Angeles. He has interviewed leaders and designers at brands including Apple, Microsoft and Adobe. Daniel's debut book of short stories and poems was published in 2018, and his comedy newsletter is a Substack Bestseller.
