I don’t think there’s anyone who regularly visits this site who won’t be aware of what Night Panel is.
For the rest of you….
Night Panel is a great little Saab automotive application that recognises that when you’re driving at night, you don’t need to see everything. In fact, not only do you not need to see it, sometimes it can just be downright distracting.
What Saab did to remedy this was take a leaf from their aviation notebook and throw in a switch that dims everything on the dashboard that you don’t need to see.
This graphic will give you a good idea as to how it looks:
When you hit the Night Panel button, everything except for the speedometer will either go completely black or dim. If you need to see something, like your fuel gauge hitting empty for example, the car knows this and will light up the appropriate area for you to see.
Apart from when they tamed the turbo, this has to be my favourite of all Saab’s innovations. It’s so simple, and yet so clever. It looks absolutely brilliant in use but most of all – it works!!
There’s something about a long night drive and hitting the Night Panel button for the first time. The transformation in the interior of the car is both exciting and relaxing at the same time.
It’s yet another one of those Saab design elements that sets them apart from the rest of the pack, and another reason why I love these cars.
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To read other posts about Saab Design, including more of the Great Moments series, click here –> Saab Design
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