The automotive industry is undergoing constant changes, with consumer preferences for vehicle colours and styles evolving swiftly. In light of this, Toyota has submitted a patent application for colour-changing paint, a technology that could enable owners or dealerships to swiftly modify the colours of cars.
The application, published by the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) in March of this year but originally filed in 2022, details the potential desire of owners to alter paint colours to keep up with trends or simply for a change. Dealerships could also change colours to enhance the appeal and marketability of cars, as per Toyota’s claims.
Instead of a complex repaint or vinyl wrap, Toyota asserts to have created paint that can adjust its hues in response to heat and light. As explained in the application, the process involves driving a car into a garage bay with tunnel-like heating elements encompassing it. As the paint surface is heated, a light-emitting “colour modulator” device is passed over the paint surface to complete the transformation.
The colour modulator, which could be operated by a human operator or a robot, would essentially function as the controller for this process. It could communicate with a remote server as well as temperature sensors embedded in the vehicle’s bodywork to determine the correct settings for a specific colour, according to the application.
While Toyota concedes that it is not the first automaker to experiment with colour-changing paint, it highlights BMW’s demonstration of similar technology at CES 2022 on its iX electric SUV.
BMW showcased its colour-changing technology with the BMW iX Flow during CES 2022. The EV featuring the E Ink technology became the first car in the world whose exterior colour can change at the touch of a button.
The colour changes are made possible by a specially developed body wrap tailored precisely to the contours of the iX Flow. When stimulated by electrical signals, the electrophoretic technology – similar to that used in Kindle e-readers – brings different colour pigments to the surface, causing the body skin to take on the desired colour.
There are millions of paint capsules in the custom wrap, with a diameter equivalent to the thickness of a human hair. Each of these microcapsules contains negatively charged white pigments and positively charged black pigments. Depending on the chosen setting, stimulation by means of an electrical field causes either the white or the black pigments to collect at the surface of the microcapsule, giving the car the desired shade.
After the segments are applied and the power supply for stimulating the electrical field is connected, the entire body is warmed and sealed to guarantee optimum and uniform colour reproduction during every colour change, said BMW.
Toyota’s patent application for the colour-changing paint technology unveils an innovative approach to meeting consumer demand for versatile and customizable vehicles. As the automotive industry continues to stretch technological boundaries, it is invigorating to witness the development of inventive solutions that cater to evolving consumer preferences.