Toyota developing color-changing paint [Video]

(Motor Authority) — Toyota has filed a patent application for color-changing paint, a technology that could let owners or dealerships quickly change the colors of cars.

As Toyota notes in the application—which was published by the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) on March, 19, but originally filed in 2022—owners may want to change paint colors to keep up with trends or just to switch things up. Dealers could also change colors to make cars easier to sell, Toyota suggests.

But instead of a complex repaint or vinyl wrap, Toyota claims to have developed paint that can alter its hues in reaction to heat and light. As described in the application, a car would be driven into a garage bay with tunnel-like heating elements that would surround it on all sides. As the paint surface is heated, a light-emitting “color modulator” device would be passed over the paint surface …