DETROIT: Sound is a factor that electric car manufacturers must take into account.
Not only for safety reasons, but also to appeal to sports car enthusiasts who like to hear the engine roar.
With this in mind, the new Dodge Charger Daytona promises to reproduce the sound of a good old-fashioned V8 internal combustion engine (ICE) - a first for an electric vehicle (EV).
The American automaker has unveiled its first all-electric sports car, the Dodge Charger Dayton, which, depending on the version, promises the equivalent of 450hp to 670hp.
In addition to the power, and the performance that goes with it, this model is especially distinctive to the ear, emitting a sound worthy of the greatest muscle cars of the 1960s.
This is achieved thanks to the "Fratzonic Chambered Exhaust," a noise-generating system capable of reproducing the sound of those souped-up cars of yesteryear.
This innovative technology aims to reproduce the sound of a traditional V8 engine in an electric car, with the promise of topping 120 decibels.
The system uses a combination of amplifiers and resonance chambers, all controlled by software to generate a powerful, throbbing sound emanating from the rear of the car.
It should be possible to deactivate this feature at any time, to regain the low noise output of a typical electric car.
Today, EV makers usually generate discreet, sometimes customisable, artificial noises, intended to signal the presence of the electric car to other road users, for safety reasons.
For the time being, however, no one on the market is proposing a noise similar to that of a traditional combustion engine.
In the future, this type of technology could become more widespread to seduce potential buyers, given that the absence of noise sometimes puts people off buying an electric car.
Today, some manufacturers are able to offer solutions that reproduce a noise fairly comparable to that of combustion engines, but only inside the passenger compartment.
This is the case, for example, with Ford's Electronic Sound Enhancement (ESE) system, designed to improve the sound experience for driver and passengers in the EV.
