Dodge drivers are seeing red. Buick owners are being bathed in "ice blue." Ford buyers can push a button and pick a color to suit their mood.
Some of the auto industry's most dazzling experiments with electricity are happening not under the hood but inside the passenger cabin, with so-called ambient lighting—fixtures designed to add a splash of color and some restaurant-style chic to a dark vehicle interior.
Designers at Detroit's Big Three auto makers are adding such touches as ribbons of light across the dashboard, illuminated rings around the cup holders or subtle glows along door panels and foot wells. Unlike conventional map and dome lamps that shine a jarring white light for specific tasks, designers say, ambient lighting is meant to create an illusion of space, relax the driver, define the brand and make a fashion statement.