Posted on 01/07/2013 3:48:43 PM PST by PilotDave
They’re so quiet, in fact, that it can be a problem — a problem big enough that federal regulators have stepped in with a plan (PDF) to make the cars play a sound of their own. Pedestrians — visually impaired ones especially, but also those blessed with fine eyesight — often hear an oncoming vehicle without seeing it. By being so eerily quiet, electric cars pose a safety risk, so the logic goes.
That’s why the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has published this list of proposed sounds that electric vehicles should make. Have a listen — it’s what the future sounds like!
The basics are that electric cars should produce a sound when in reverse, and when driving at speeds of up to 30 km/h. One proposal was for the sound to be a recording of what an regular gas-powered car sounds like, but that idea was quickly dismissed because it “would not ensure sufficient detectability.”
Obviously.
The proposed noises are a set of quasi-futuristic whirring hums that sound a bit like what you would imagine an electric engine would sound like, if it didn’t actually sound like nothing at all. They are designed to change in pitch as the speed of the car increases. More precisely, according to the NHTSA, there should be a “one percent shift in pitch frequency of the vehicle sound per km/h of acceleration to ensure that pedestrians would be able to determine whether an [electric vehicle] is accelerating or decelerating.”
(Excerpt) Read more at blogs.wsj.com ...
If its electric sound - will drain battery faster ...
An electric sound skulls being crushed under tiny little wheels?
I have perfect sight and perfect vision, and I’m not unattentive, but I’ve nearly been killed by these things twice. Both times it was when an electric vehicle came around the corner of a building and I as a pedestrian was completely in the right. Not a fan.
My mother in law nearly ran me over in her danged electric thing. A vehicle should make some noise when it’s about to move.
this is just part of the circus
“MOTHER IN LAW”
You just opened yourself up. Popcorn please...
Install a gas engine that accelerates in RPM as the electric motor gains speed... Problem solved...
So...I wonder how many people have actually been killed or injured by this supposed problem. Or are they just looking for something to regulate? I’ve never heard of carnage on the golf courses caused by quiet golf carts.
Install a gas engine that accelerates in RPM as the electric motor gains speed... Problem solved...
A neighbor has a Prius. I suggested that to her when she crept up on me one day while I was at the mailbox. :)
( there's 3 on my street now)
Maybe your MIL hates you?
Brought to you happily by the folks at USGov.disorg.
Just install some glass paks on them, simple.
Capitalize on it and repackage “Jetsons” sound effects. Alternatively, the sounds could be a downloadable “ringtone” kind of thing. A user could select “Bugatti”, “North American P-51” (that would be my choice, LOL) or ‘73 Primer-grey Mercury Marquis or any of a dozen other car sound packages (CSPs) I am sure a James Brown voice would work pretty well as far as getting attention.
Please, dear Lord, save us from the nanny state!
I think not ! Better sleep with one eye open :)
Just an idea -—
the Nazi’s put screaming sirens on the fixed wheel struts of Stuka dive bombers in order to intimidate those on the ground during the plane’s high speed dive.
Perhaps the sound of a steam locomotive?
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