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NEWS
EVs too quiet?
US government is set to impose minimum noise levels on silent-but-deadly EVsThe US federal government's Department of Transport (DoT) has set to work on new regulations requiring EVs and hybrids emit noises at low speeds to warn pedestrians of their presence.
It’s the next step in implementing the Pedestrian Safety Enhancement Act, passed by Congress in 2010. In current form, the regulations would require the normally silent vehicles to emit sufficient sound to be audible over normal street sounds at speeds below 18mph (29km/h). The Department deems vehicles travelling faster to emit safe noise levels naturally.
As yet there have been few if any incidences of injury or death by such low-speed stealth, but that’s mainly down to slow sales to date and a resulting comparative rarity of such vehicles on public roads worldwide. But with so many governments and industry groups sinking so much into helping EV technologies gain acceptance and sales impetus, it’s seen as likely to become more of a problem in the future.
"Safety is our highest priority,” Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood said in a DoT statement. “This proposal will help keep everyone using our nation's streets and roadways safe, whether they are motorists, bicyclists or pedestrians, and especially the blind and visually impaired.”
National Highway and Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) head David Strickland said in a statement from his agency that it was advocating maximum flexibility for auto makers in how they set about compliance with the new rules, helping mitigate the costs the move would impose on them. “Our proposal would allow manufacturers the flexibility to design different sounds for different makes and models while still providing an opportunity for pedestrians, bicyclists and the visually impaired to detect and recognise a vehicle and make a decision about whether it is safe to cross the street," Mr Strickland said.
The issue has been on the table for several years in Europe, Japan and the US, with legislatures, auto makers and lobby groups addressing issues such as automatic-vs-manual activation and deactivation, volume, pitch and maximising cut-through while minimising noise pollution. The latter translates into an opportunity to install some pretty exciting, futuristic soundtrack material in their cars. Here, Nissan explains how it went about developing noise for its LEAF EV (pictured)…
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DwPwx-YxIZM
Ford, meanwhile, has taken the popularity contest path, posting four sounds for its Focus Electric on YouTube to test reaction…
Ford Focus test sound A: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qOEuCJfsS8k
Ford Focus test sound B: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HyAmfe2Niq4
Ford Focus test sound C: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pDsgADWjmT0
Ford Focus test sound D: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p8XSF3fMv60
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Written byJeremy Bass
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