The rise of electric cars has pedestrian safety and hearing-impaired rights groups worried about the accident potential of near-silent electric cars. And so the race to aurally differentiate EVs is on. Heinrik Fisker tells the New York Times that his company’s Karma EV will sound like “a cross between a starship and a Formula One car,” thanks to bumper level speakers pumping out a Hollywood-developed “exhaust note.” Others suggest exhaust notes may be downloadable, like automotive ringtones. Until now, the sounds our cars make has been a function of the engine (with some customization possible via enormous exhausts). Being given the option of making our future electric vehicles sound like anything we want creates a world of options. How to decide?
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Easy! Give them that chirping bubbly beeping sound that all the flying saucers in the Jetsons used to make.
Give me the sound of silence.
All this worry about quiet electric cars reminds me of the red flag laws early in the automotive age. But cars were not the danger they were thought to be. We will adjust to the silence the same way.
Toyota Priuses have been quietly prowling neighborhoods at low speeds for a decade now. People have not been dying in front of them.
This is one of the dumbest ideas ever. If you read the comments that got lots of positive votes from readers, 98.999% of them wanted silence from EVs. The real possibility of legislation requiring noise augmentation for EVs is one of the worst manifestations of the nanny state, just one notch below back-up beepers. I emailed Plug In America telling them that if they supported this they would generate hatred of EVs. you can email them, too, at info@pluginamerica.org, or zan@pluginamerica.org, or jay@pluginamerica.org. Flood them. Scare them. Before they drive us bonkers.
How about Dick Dale’s version of the misirlou?
Completely unnecessary. Get your nose out of your blackberry for a minute and watch where you’re going.
Shouldn’t the first sentence reference the sight-impaired? Even so, I don’t think their lives are in any greater danger over cars that don’t make a lot of noise. Most cars are pretty quiet near pedestrians anyway.
How about the sound that the Jetson’s car made?
Or the sound of the old 1966-1968 Starship Enterprise when going warp-speed?
OK I’m being facetious (in case you didn’t catch it)
This is a great idea. We should teach the sight-impaired to be deathly afraid to move every time they hear birds chirping. Problem solved, right?
Also, for my money, I’d like it to sound like something from Star Wars cruising past.
I’m thinking a little bit more off-the-wall here. I want to use the audio from Meg Ryan’s famous scene in “When Harry Met Sally”: “Ohh … yes … Ohhh God … yes, yes … right there … Ohhh God …” Play it over and over and over again as I drive down the street. That should get people’s attention.
How about the sound of a backfiring 80’s junker with a squeaky fan belt and an idling problem? People will be confused when they don’t see a cloud of black smoke coming from the back of the car.
Well maintained modern cars are very quiet when being properly driven on quiet suburban streets. Usually the loudest thing about them is the tire noise. The world does not need more noise.
I vote for the sound of baseball cards stuck in the spokes of a bicycle wheel.
Do kids still do that?
That’s it – have them make MORE tire noise. Something like baseball cards in the spokes.
Or require them to run on those jacked-up 4×4 mud tires…
I agree 100% with David Holzman, and add this quote from just-auto.com:
“June 23, 2008, the USA National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) held a hearing and the research is available from http://www.regulations.gov, search “NHTSA-2008-0108-0020″.
We found the Prius hybrid has the same pedestrian accident rate as other cars; out of 4,700 annual pedestrian deaths, only 5 are blind; and no blind has been killed by a Prius, yet. We continue to look at the Prius accident data and with about 5.8 billion Prius miles from 2001-2007, there have been only 11, Prius-only pedestrian accidents. Everyone who looks at the Prius accident data can not find evidence of a hybrid hazard.”
So there’s no additional risk from EVs. You can hear them when they are driven at speeds above 20mph. At speeds below 20 mph, collisions would be non-deadly if the U.S. adopted internationally-accepted pedestrian protection standards. All the talk about dangerous EVs is just, to quote Maximum Bob, a crock of shit.
How about the sound Pac-Man makes when eating the dots.
If (mostly likely when) I am forced to give up my internal combustion engine, should there be a law that requires me to broadcast additional noise from my transportation, there will be only one acceptable sound for me to use. I will record a sound file of the screams of baby seals being clubbed to death. Further, the sound recording will be of sufficient quality that you not only can hear the wet impact of blunt instrument but also the spatter of blood on the ground. I will also rerecord the sound file yearly to make sure that people do not become desensitized of my approach.
I’m thinking any 60’s era peace movement song would be appropriate… or Rush Limbaugh’s “environmentalist wacko” theme song “Born Free” blaring from the grill. Come to think of it, maybe a bass thumper stereo should be factory installed, so pedestrians could hear AND feel them coming… of course, that would be hell on the battery life! ;) I like the video — the sound of chirping birds is a great idea, causing sight impared pedestrians to duck for cover every time they walk by a tree. I think this news needs to be filed under Whiskey Tango Foxtrot…
I think the best way to have a suitable exhaust would be to pull out the electric bits and drop in a cammed 454. It would sound fantastic.
That also makes me think, will there be reverse conversions in the future? I know some people are converting to electric these days, but if it really catches on and some sweet sports cars have whirring electric motors, I suspect someone will switch them out for combustion engines.
I remember hearing a wave file of the HemiUnderGlass warming up. EVERYONE would get out of the way.
Either that or some choice quotes from Joe Pesci’s character in Casino.
If the safety nannys are going to insist on noises from my EV, I’m going to hold out for an audio track of a ’98 Harley 80ci Evo running Vance and Hines Longshots (without baffles). Approximately 250 watts per channel, wit the volume turned up to 11 (go Spinal Tap) should make sure people know I’m coming.
Yeah, I’ll wear earplugs while driving – whatever it takes to protect the children!
make mine a flat plane v8 @ 8500 rpm.
“(bell ringing) Bring out yer dead! Bring out yer dead!” … and when the car is stopped it proceeds to play the whole Monty Python skit.
Downloadable car sounds?
Where can I get a ’70 SS 454 straight out of the headers endless loop?
I immediately thought of the Jetsons, too! This device has the potential for much hilarity until everyone get ’em.
A skill-saw cutting through wood would be a good sound, too.
Or, for the ricers, they can forgo the fart can and have an actual, looping, extended ripping fart.
Other ideas:
-“the most annoying sound ever” from “Dumb and Dumber”
-“meow-meow-meow-meow” cat food song. Hilarious!
-Guitar solo from back to the future, or Thunderstruck by AC DC
-Lawnmower
-John Cleese saying “Ping!” on an endless loop
-Laugh track
-Random, common cell-phone ringtones
It’s got to be something ridiculous, because a 454 or Formula 1 sound would be so pouserish.
TIE Fighter from Star Wars: A New Hope.
How about the sound that the Jetson’s car made?
Yeah, that’s for me too.
I’m torn. If I had two choices for my Aptera (apart from my obvious choice, silence), they’d be:
* The Jetsons’s flying car sound (complete with the Jetson’s doorbell-version of the theme song as the honk-tone)
* The Soviet National Anthem (to protest the overly-intrustive government regulations that required the noise in the first place).
Hmm, I suppose a more direct way to achieve the latter case would be:
* A constant loop of a person stating, “This sound is mandated by the federal government! This sound is mandated by the federal government!…”
Bonus points if the speaker is Gilbert Gottfried.
Mike66Chryslers – Make mine the sound of coconut halves mixed with Sir Robin’s song.
Seriously, though, tires make all the noise you need. Not that you need any at all; it takes two idiots to get an EV-ambushes-pedestrian incident. The pedestrian has to be out on the street not paying any attention whatsoever, and the driver has to be out on the same street paying even LESS attention. One ends up in the ER, the other one in jail, Darwin smiles, case closed.
And if you really insist on making noise, throw a straight-cut gearbox in there.
I want the Star Wars Imperial March theme.
Or the sound of a toilet flushing. Followed by sounds of a steak on the grill.
How about the sound of a backfiring 80’s junker with a squeaky fan belt and an idling problem? People will be confused when they don’t see a cloud of black smoke coming from the back of the car.
I believe that will come standard with the Volt.
Should a soundtrack be mandatory? No. Should I have the option of downloading my own soundtrack? Yes, definitely. I like the “When Harry Met Sally” suggestion above. How about making it sound like a deisel-electric locomotive?
Just a low, subtle V8 rumble would be plenty for me.
On my honeymoon two years ago, my wife and I took a walk in Saratoga Springs State Park. We went back to the car, I started it, looked behind me, all was clear, then I backed up. Crunch! A Honda Civic Hybrid had whispered up behind me.
While the sheetmetal damage was negligible, the fancy alloy wheel of my treasured Trek 2200 road bike was completely pancaked.
That experience makes me think this idea isn’t really so ridiculous.
There used to be a dealiebop called the Bermuda bell. You stepped on a floor pedal and it clanged. Supposed to be an alternative to the horn, I guess.
+100 for KarenRei. My best laugh of the week so far.
KarenRei was funny. Gilbert would make me laugh the first few times I hear him from a Prius.
My nightmare is that they legislate it to be the same beep a large truck makes when backing up! If I ever heard a car that annoying just coasting through a parking lot I’d be sorely tempted to find a shotgun and shoot until the noise stops.
Quiet hybrid/EV is good. If they mandate it the noise should be mandated to not be audible from more than 20ft.
If you do make it the law use bluetooth or wifi or something to make it only come on when someone who is blind is within signal range of the vehicle. Don’t make me listen to it when I’m stuck in stop and go traffic in the center of 6 lanes with no pedestrians. They call them limited access roads for a reason. Don’t change the name to needlessly noisy limited access roads.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Limited-access_road
As some others….I am torn….
I think the sound of 200 pounds of meat being dropped from a 10 story building, played over and over on a loop.
Or…..
The soundtrack clip from the scene in Predator where Arnold and his pals go ape shit on the forest with every known automatic weapon, on a loop,
Or…..
When i was 7, I had a toy motorcycle engine which was installed on my bicycle….I think it was called a Vvvvvrrrooooommmm Motor….you turned a rheostat mounted on the handlebars and this gizmo made a faux motorcycle revving sound, that got faster, the more you twisted….probly cost about $7 bucks in 60’s dollars, maybe $40 today, so that is probably the cost effective option….
It should be a type of steady air induction noise coupled with the image of the cleanliness, bubbling, and coolness of spring water. So obviously the noise of sucking on a bong.
Will an EV driver then get a ticket for a loud stereo (like that recent article on TTAC about the Florida state legislature wanting to put points on a license for noise violations)?
When i was 7, I had a toy motorcycle engine which was installed on my bicycle….I think it was called a Vvvvvrrrooooommmm Motor….you turned a rheostat mounted on the handlebars and this gizmo made a faux motorcycle revving sound,…
Count me in!! I had a Vroom II. Lost the “key” so Dad slipped in a paper clip.
Either that or how about the sound of a NASCAR stocker at Talladega?
All joking aside, silence is golden.
“I vote for the sound of baseball cards stuck in the spokes of a bicycle wheel.
Do kids still do that?”
Brilliant minds think alike
The Huffington Post recently printed an article about the most annoying songs of all time at the following link:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/10/09/the-most-annoying-songs-o_n_314296.html
A recording of “It’s a Small World After All” would certainly be annoying. I think I’d like one that played “My Sharona.”
bomberpete :
On my honeymoon two years ago, my wife and I took a walk in Saratoga Springs State Park. We went back to the car, I started it, looked behind me, all was clear, then I backed up. Crunch! A Honda Civic Hybrid had whispered up behind me.
If you were looking WHERE YOU WERE GOING, it would not have happened. We’re all getting lazy, and I include myself in that generalization.
The proper method of backing up is to put your hand behind the passenger seatback, then twist your body and turn your head so that you are looking out the back window. Using mirrors does not count!
And never, ever, ever back up more than you absolutely need to. Not even an inch!
That must be a typo…”My Sharona” is NOT annoying!
There’s only one thing that the sound of EVs lacks:
More cowbell!
Of course, more ‘Busa sound would also work. After all, once EVs start coming on line, how long will it be before someone shoehorns a ‘Busa engine into a battery-box? We may as well get the pedestrians used to the sound now….
“Hey Macarina!” when leaving the office?
An uptempo Poka at the Java Shack drive-thru?
“Ride of the Valkyries.”
Discussion over.
@Daanii2 :
Give me the sound of silence.
+1.
Don’t make anything sound like anything it isn’t.
We like engine notes because they are authentic. For an EV, authentic would be silence or maybe a little whine from the reduction gear.
Artificial sounds? Stupid.
@bomberpete :
On my honeymoon two years ago, my wife and I took a walk in Saratoga Springs State Park. We went back to the car, I started it, looked behind me, all was clear, then I backed up. Crunch! A Honda Civic Hybrid had whispered up behind me.
If you back up without looking back, it’s your fault if you crash into Civics. Civic hybrids can’t move with the engine off, and there are lots of very quiet non-hybrids.
@bomberpete :
On my honeymoon two years ago, my wife and I took a walk in Saratoga Springs State Park. We went back to the car, I started it, looked behind me, all was clear, then I backed up. Crunch! A Honda Civic Hybrid had whispered up behind me.
If you back up without looking back, it’s your fault if you crash into Civics. Civic hybrids can’t move with the engine off, and there are lots of very quiet non-hybrids.
In the video posted, I heard mostly tire noise. It wasn’t until the car was passing that I could even hear the silly bird noise.
I like this idea:
“This sound is mandated by the federal government!”
“Ride of the Valkyries.”
+100.
Now if someone can build be a replica 7.62mm Minigun to mount on stub wings, I am all set.
Or ‘Rumble’ by Link Wray. Everyone would turn around expecting a lowered ’49 Merc and be utterly baffled to see the Prius.
Or a lion roaring.
Or the horn from a locomotive.
This is a real problem. I often drive on a road near the Hudson river. This road is to the boat docks, and is also used by many walkers.
If the wind is blowing towards me, anyone walking along the road cannot hear me. I’ve learned to open the windows and play some classical or mellow electronic music, or I can drive 2 mph for half a mile behind a walker. My Acura is very quiet. Honking the horn is considered rude, as the walker does not know I’ve been behind him or her for minutes already, and the walker thinks I’m pushy and about to run them over.
Whatever sound is chosen must be universal and noticeable without being obnoxious. It should also be speed-dependent, as once you are over 20 mph, there is wind and tire noise.
I second the Pac Man sound of eating the dots…..