Electric cars, go make some noise

By GEORGE WONG | 15 June 2018


Jaguar's I-Pace will be one of the new fangled electric cars that will make artificial revving noises.


PETALING JAYA: Remember those vroom vroom noises kids make when playing with their Hot Wheels cars? Vehicle manufacturers are experimenting on how to create a convincing revving sound for their silent electric vehicles.

In a tweet, motoring magazine Roadshow shared the proposed revving noise by British car maker Jaguar for its fully-electric car the I-Pace, which sounds somewhere between a normal rev and a spaceship going at warp speed.

Jaguar on its YouTube channel explains that the artificial sound was a safety feature that would kick in when travelling under 20kph.

"Due to its near silent operation at lower speeds, the I-Pace features a distinctive Audible Vehicle Alert System that emits an acoustic signal to ensure pedestrians are aware of it approaching," it says.



The car makers need to do so by 2020, as the United State's National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) has mandated that electric vehicles five tonnes and lighter that's traveling forward or in reverse at speeds 30km/h or less has to emit noise.

The rule hopes to prevent the vehicles from injuring pedestrians, especially people who are blind or visually impaired.

NHTSA says electric cars, unlike cars with combustion engines, make hardly any engine noise, with the only noises usually generated caused by wind resistance or tire noises and even then only at moderate to higher speeds.

They are mulling to allow cars to offer different sounds that a driver could select from.

Makers of sports cars have been at it for years – as electric vehicles don't produce the loud revving associated with powerful engines, some don't find them as satisfying.


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