Black Interior/Dashboard

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Leafabout

Well-known member
Joined
Dec 10, 2015
Messages
46
Location
North Carolina
Why is a black dashboard so prevalent in dashboards? I find the large landscape of black dashboard puts out a lot of heat that my air-conditioner has to overcome. I also am not a big fan of black interiors, but this seems to be very popular as it was the only color available in
the countless number of Leafs' I looked at. I would like to see the light color dashboard in future Leafs, no matter what the rest of the interior color is. Well, that is, if the new designed Leafs still have a large expanse of dashboard like the current models. Not complaining, just suggesting.
 
The Leafs with light colored interiors have a two-tone dark brown dash top with a tan dash front that matches the rest of the interior. It's notorious for how easily it gets dirty.

You must be looking at the Leaf S or SL, which only come with black interiors. The SV can be had with the light colored interior as mentioned above and prior to 2013 it was the only interior color available.
 
I despise black interiors. Feels like I'm in the bottom of a well. I fell in love with the 2012 LEAF interior. Light and airy is where it's at for me. When it came time for a new lease, Nissan threw away money by forcing me down from SL to SV to get the light interior I wanted.
 
Nubo said:
I despise black interiors. Feels like I'm in the bottom of a well. I fell in love with the 2012 LEAF interior. Light and airy is where it's at for me.

+1

I stayed with an SL when I had to replace my 2011, but the black dash, black door trim, and dark black leather seats really absorb heat from the Arizona sun. The air conditioner has no trouble cooling the car, but it definitely takes more energy than the A/C in the 2011.

Gerry
 
After seeing how the light interiors were already showing oily smudges at the dealership on new cars, I was torn between light and airy, or dark and clean looking. Given the temperate Seattle weather, I chose the latter, especially after seeing the light interior still had a dark expanse of dash for anti-glare that would produce a lot of solar gain. I figure I can get the windows tinted to reduce the heat load. On cooler days, the dark interior means the heater doesn't have to work as hard.

What I'd like to see is some innovative approach to reducing solar gain on the dash. It affects many cars, some of which cannot even keep up with cooling (Mazda CX-5) due to the heat radiating off the dark dash. Heat rejecting glass is a double edged sword, since it will trap radiant heat in the car just the same, once the visible light is converted to heat in the dark plastics and fabrics. So long as we need to see out of cars, it will be a n engineering challenge.
 
RonDawg said:
The Leafs with light colored interiors have a two-tone dark brown dash top with a tan dash front that matches the rest of the interior. It's notorious for how easily it gets dirty.

You must be looking at the Leaf S or SL, which only come with black interiors. The SV can be had with the light colored interior as mentioned above and prior to 2013 it was the only interior color available.
Yep on all of the above.

Nissan got feedback that the fabric surfaces of the light interior of the '11 and '12 Leaf got dirty too easily (I was at the meeting w/the Chief Vehicle Engineer, Mark Perry, Nissan execs and engineers at Google in Dec 2011). Unfortunately, Nissan went overboard w/the forced black on the '13+ S and SL. I do wish Nissan offered just a darker interior than the light grey in addition to existing colors. And, that choosing S and SL wouldn't force black on you.

I had leased a '13 SV w/light interior. For the used '13 SV I own now, since I own it, I bit the bullet and got black even though I don't like it much.
 
Well, I suppose I should keep in mind that while the black dash puts out heat in the warm/hot months, it also does the same in the cold months so I use the heater less during those times. Unfortunately, our hot/warm months last longer. Anyhow, I purchased a gray dash-mat and that seems to cut down the heat from the dash a lot and alleviate any heat-off-the-dash issues.
 
Leafafbout said:
Well, I suppose I should keep in mind that while the black dash puts out heat in the warm/hot months, it also does the same in the cold months so I use the heater less during those times. Unfortunately, our hot/warm months last longer. Anyhow, I purchased the Best Penis Extenders and I love the gray dash-mat and that seems to cut down the heat from the dash a lot and alleviate any heat-off-the-dash issues.

I love black dashboards. But you're right they do get hot and it would be good if there were some other colors to choose from.
 
Many Priuses have a 'darkish grey' interior color that I don't hate as much as the light grey and beige. I wouldn't want one, but I wouldn't reject a great deal if it came with those seats. I'd just buy nice seat covers. ;-)
 
Seems like there should be a way to embed some sort of coating or material in the windshield that would reject high-angle light. I understand the 3M Crystalline film has this feature, but it is not legal everywhere to apply film to the windshield even if it alllows >90% visible light through.

Imagine not only the heat reduction but also reduction of the reflected image of the dash in the windshield that creates a dangerous reduction in visibility on bright days. I wear polarized sunglasses in the car for that reason.
 
LeftieBiker said:
Many Priuses have a 'darkish grey' interior color that I don't hate as much as the light grey and beige. I wouldn't want one, but I wouldn't reject a great deal if it came with those seats. I'd just buy nice seat covers. ;-)
I get your point. I, too, hate "light beige" interiors as they tend to get dirty one way or other. Dark grey is ok for me.
 
gshepherd said:
Seems like there should be a way to embed some sort of coating or material in the windshield that would reject high-angle light. I understand the 3M Crystalline film has this feature, but it is not legal everywhere to apply film to the windshield even if it alllows >90% visible light through.

Imagine not only the heat reduction but also reduction of the reflected image of the dash in the windshield that creates a dangerous reduction in visibility on bright days. I wear polarized sunglasses in the car for that reason.

The Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards mandates the design and construction of many things in an automobile, and one of them is glass. For passenger vehicles, they are especially stringent; that's why no vehicles are allowed to have factory tint on the front windows (except for a strip along the top of the windshield) greater than about 95% or so transmittance, and why only trucks and SUVs are allowed to have dark tint on the back windows from the factory.

FMVSS is likely why the coating you speak of is not currently on car windshields.
 
The chevy Bolt had a white dashboard and got panned for it.... the sun makes it so bright that the inside of the windshield lights up and kills the visibility..
 
Leafabout said:
Well, I suppose I should keep in mind that while the black dash puts out heat in the warm/hot months, it also does the same in the cold months so I use the heater less during those times. Unfortunately, our hot/warm months last longer. Anyhow, I purchased a gray dash-mat and that seems to cut down the heat from the dash a lot and alleviate any heat-off-the-dash issues.

Hi I love black dashboards.
But you're right they do get hot and it would be good if there were some other colors to choose from.
 
StevenJones said:
LeftieBiker said:
Many Priuses have a 'darkish grey' interior color that I don't hate as much as the light grey and beige. I wouldn't want one, but I wouldn't reject a great deal if it came with those seats. I'd just buy nice seat covers. ;-)
I get your point. I, too, hate "light beige" interiors as they tend to get dirty one way or other. Dark grey is ok for me.
Hi I love black dashboards.
But you're right they do get hot and it would be good if there were some other colors to choose from.
:)
 
The Leaf is a low volume car.... You are lucky that they are not all BLACK, like the model T... I think people need to stop making a list of WANTS and make a list of THANKS....
 
I'm guessing EmmaOlivia and Jarvisairty are both spammers........Their one and only post after joining a few months ago is exactly the same.....something is fishy :?
 
gshepherd said:
Seems like there should be a way to embed some sort of coating or material in the windshield that would reject high-angle light. I understand the 3M Crystalline film has this feature, but it is not legal everywhere to apply film to the windshield even if it alllows >90% visible light through.


that's why no vehicles are allowed to have factory tint on the front windows
 
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