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The BMW car manufacturer presented at the Consumer Electronics Show 2022 in Las Vegas, the BMW iX Flow model with E Ink, a car capable of changing the color of its entire body at the touch of a button.

Delegates to the BMW Group's rad ° hub dialogue platform, hosted by the Munich plant, had the opportunity to experience first-hand, for the first time, the improved color-changing qualities of the BMW iX Flow, reports Agerpres.

Thus, during the event, the brainboost start-up in Munich used the new and improved color-changing effect in a unique collaboration with the BMW Group, aimed at raising awareness about mental health.

With the help of brainboost, the BMW iX Flow was connected directly to the brain of rad ° hub delegates using an electroencephalograph (EEG), which records the electrical activity of the brain.

The BMW iX Flow body is laminated in a special film containing millions of colored capsules, and when stimulated by electrical signals, negatively charged white or positively charged black pigments will collect on the surface, thus changing the color of the exterior.

BMW, which stands for Bayerische Motoren Werke Aktiengeselleschaft and translates to Bavarian Motor Works, is owned by the parent company, BMW Group. This company also owns luxury auto brands like Mini and Rolls-Royce, and BMW has its headquarters in Munich, Germany.

Andy Kerr understands the importance of sound and how the interplay of technology and vision can take your ears on a fascinating journey. We discover new horizons in this episode, and explore with Kerr how sounds are shaping a whole new experience and feel-good luxury in the mobility of the future.

This episode is all about the magic of sounds, the exciting tones and sound effects that will influence the driving of the future – with Andy Kerr, Director of Product Marketing & Communications at the premium audio brand Bowers & Wilkins.

Andy Kerr has been in the audio industry for 27 years. He worked in print and digital media before joining the Bowers & Wilkins research and development team. In the course of his ten years at Bowers & Wilkins, he has been involved in the planning, development, release and launch phases of all major home, automotive and mobile products currently manufactured by the company.

Musicians have to practice for months and months before they are able to play a song perfectly. Likewise, Bowers & Wilkins audio engineers, working with BMW, invest hundreds of hours in testing and fine-tuning to create a faithful sound in a car. What unites both sides is their passion for constantly pushing technical and visual boundaries. The same principles apply in a home audio system as they do in car speakers with studio-level technologies, like tweeters made from synthetic diamond as found in the BMW X7, 8 Series and the new BMW i7 (➜ Read also: BMW i7 – The new light on the road). Bowers & Wilkins speakers and in-car audio systems (➜ Read also: The engineers at Bowers & Wilkins test speakers with these pieces of music) combine innovative design with precision manufacturing and have to undergo extensive testing.

This creates a balanced sound that turns the BMW interior into a mobile feel-good zone – or a mobile cinema thanks to the Theater Screen combined with the audio system in the new BMW i7.

THE FUTURE OF AUDIO AND ACOUSTICS

Dive into the exciting world of sound and experience how the interplay of technology and vision can take your ears on a fascinating journey. Andy Kerr, Director of Product Marketing & Communications at premium audio specialist Bowers & Wilkins offers an insight into the magic of sounds and how they are influencing the driving of the future in an exciting way.

In the long term, car interior design will evolve to create new, different spaces, and this opens up considerably more opportunities for what we can do inside those spaces. From a listening perspective, any journey in a car will become a kind of a luxurious experience.

The BMW iX is built on a bespoke electric drivetrain architecture and an aluminum spaceframe that supports an inner carbon fibre reinforced plastic (CFRP).[6] The electric platform is a "totally new development", though it is "highly compatible" with the modular CLAR platform. This shared chassis componentry allows BMW to produce the iX alongside cars with combustion engines at the Dingolfing plant.[7] The iX nameplate was chosen to signify the model’s position at the top of the electric i line-up and its role in showcasing technology as it uses the new fifth-generation version of BMW’s electric drive system, and also offers high levels of autonomous and connected technology.[7]

The body is made out of a combination of high-strength steel, aluminium, thermoplastics and carbonfibre-reinforced plastic (CFRP) to keep weight as low as possible.[8] Underpinning the iX is an aluminium-intensive chassis featuring a double-wishbone (front) and multi-link (rear) suspension, offering active rear-wheel steering.[7] The front features a large blanked off grille, which contains camera, radar and other sensors needed for the driver assistance systems.[9] The grille comes with a self-healing coating that can smooth-out scratches and small chips to make sure that the sensors can always "see" clearly.[10]

The iX resembles the G05 X5 in length and width, but with the roof height of an G06 X6 and the wheel size of an G07 X7.[11] It has a 0.25 drag coefficient and a 2.82 m2 frontal area (thus CdA=0.71m2). BMW says the vehicle's low aerodynamic profile improved its WLTP range by around 40 miles.[9] The iX features a fixed clamshell-style bonnet. The windscreen washer bottle is accessed via the BMW emblem above the grille.

Battery and charging

The batteries consists of prismatic cells and has a standard 400 V battery system. According to BMW, the gravimetric energy density of the lithium-ion battery has been increased by around 20 percent compared to the previous generation. The vehicle has a thermal management system featuring heating and cooling with heat pump, and a battery pre-conditioning feature ahead of fast charging.[16]

The xDrive40 is able to DC fast charge up to 150 kW using a CCS connector and the xDrive50 up to 200 kW, with both being able to charge 10–80 percent in less than 40 minutes.[4] As for home charging, an 11 kW charger can fully charge the battery from empty in around 11 hours.[9]

Equipment and technology

The hexagonal steering wheel and two-parts-blended display with the instrument cluster (12.3 in) and the infotainment touchscreen (14.9 in).

The BMW iX features iDrive 8 that combines a 12.3-inch digital instrument cluster with a 14.9-inch infotainment touchscreen to form a single curved unit. The system comes with an upgraded version of BMW’s personal voice assistant and retains the iDrive controller. It is the first time the technology has been offered in a production BMW, and it comes standard with a hexagonal steering wheel.[17] Other standard equipments are the 18-speaker Harman Kardon sound system, as well as BMW safety systems like parking assistant and driving assistant professional.[8] Available options include a panoramic sunroof and sun-protection glass, soft-close doors, heated and ventilated seats, parking assistant, interior camera, a Bowers & Wilkins stereo, and M Sport styling.[8]

It is the first luxury car to feature built-in 5G technology that allows it over-the-air functionality. The iX has 20 times the on-board computing power of previous BMW models, allowing it to process double the amount of data coming from cameras and sensors mounted. This allows for Level 2+ semi autonomous driving capability and an extensive range of driver-assistance and collision-avoidance technology.[18] The advanced driver assist system in the iX can help drivers stay in their lane, maintain speed, and even make lane changes safely.[19]

BMW hinted at Level 3 autonomous driving when it unveiled the iNext concept in 2018. However, any mention of iX’s self-driving capabilities were absent from the official release.[9][11] Product-development chief of BMW's luxury cars, Frank van Meel stated: "I can't give a promise of a date. We are preparing, we are collecting data [from a large test fleet of modified 7 Series cars], and we will improve the iX by software over the air. We will take an evolutionary path, not jumping forward and having to pull back."[20] Frank Weber, head of R&D at BMW, confirmed in November 2021 that the iX will be offered with Level 3 capabilities as an option as the iX’s hardware and software are Level 3 system.[21]BMW Vision iNext

The BMW iNext was first announced by BMW in March 2016 as the "new spearhead of innovation and technology" with a launch goal of early in the next decade.[22]

The BMW Vision iNext was unveiled at the 2018 Paris Motor Show. Referred as "Project i 2.0", the Vision iNext was developed to address key questions for the future of motoring, with a focus on electrification, connectivity and autonomy. It was an SUV roughly similar in size to the BMW X5, although it was substantially bigger inside due to its EV architecture, with front and rear motors and underfloor batteries. BMW confirmed that it would use BMW’s fifth-generation electric powertrain, 0–100 km/h (62 mph) in 4.0 seconds and range of 380 mi (612 km). The level of autonomy the production version would offers depended on regulations and infrastructure.[23]Munich. Digitisation is delivering an integrated user experience characterised by individuality and emotionalisation in the interior of current BMW models. The My Modes allow the driver to tailor the atmosphere in the interior entirely to their personal mood and the driving experience they want. With the BMW iX Flow featuring E Ink being presented on the occasion of CES 2022, the Munich-based premium car manufacturer is offering the prospect of a future technology that uses digitisation to also adapt the exterior of a vehicle to different situations and individual wishes. The surface of the BMW iX Flow featuring E Ink can vary its shade at the driver's prompting.

Frank Weber, Member of the Board of Management of BMW AG, Development: "Digital experiences won't just be limited to displays in the future. There will be more and more melding of the real and virtual. With the BMW iX Flow, we are bringing the car body to life."

The fluid colour changes are made possible by a specially developed body wrap that is tailored precisely to the contours of the all-electric Sports Activity Vehicle from BMW. When stimulated by electrical signals, the electrophoretic technology brings different colour pigments to the surface, causing the body skin to take on the desired colouration. Adrian van Hooydonk, Head of BMW Group Design: "The BMW iX Flow is an advanced research and design project and a great example of the forward thinking that BMW is known for."

The innovative E Ink technology opens completely new ways of changing the vehicle's appearance in line with the driver's aesthetic preferences, the environmental conditions or even functional requirements. The technology thus offers unprecedented potential for personalisation in the area of exterior design. The BMW iX Flow featuring E Ink demonstrates this potential to impressive effect. Against this background, the BMW Group is driving the development of the technology so that a new form of personalisation can be experienced both on the outside and in the inside of future production vehicles.