Warning Sounds in Quiet EVs: Not a Great Idea, but It Has Legs
As legislation gears up to require electric cars to generate sounds to protect pedestrians and blind people who otherwise wouldn't hear them coming (and companies, sensing an opportunity, rush into the space), it's worth asking if we really need to "go there." I don't think so. It adds a level of complication and expense to already price-challenged EVs, and it neutralizes one of their biggest assets -- totally quiet operation.
One could make an analogy to a Kurt Vonnegut story in Welcome to the Monkey House: It envisions a society in which the more capable people are hobbled so that no one gets unfair advantage. The silliest idea, although people seem to like it, is to have EVs generate V-8 engine sounds. It's adding scratches and pops to digital recordings (which, come to think of it, some people like, too).
Several automakers, including Nissan, Fisker and General Motors, have shown off sounds they'll voluntarily incorporate into their EVs. And it's not likely to remain voluntary: the Motor Vehicle Safety Act of 2010, written with the active cooperation of the National Federation of the Blind and already through the hurdle of a House committee, includes language making such sounds mandatory on EVs. European legislation is also likely, especially since the precautionary principle holds sway there and extensive pedestrian safety laws are already on the books.
There will be wrangling over the sounds themselves: the NFB doesn't like the fact that the driver can turn off the system in the Nissan Leaf. And as EV consultant Chelsea Sexton says, there are inherent issues with the concept, such as the fact that car-generated sound will contribute to the general din and make it harder to detect any one vehicle from the background roar. She also points out that noise pollution is an environmental issue.
More significantly, there isn't a whole lot of scientific evidence that these sounds will help -- just a University of California study funded by the NFB and a federal safety agency report that, its authors admit, is based on a small sample size.
Richard Tur, an anti-noise activist and the founder of NoiseOff.org, is distressed at the idea of noisy EVs. "The advantage of hybrid and electric vehicles is that they're quiet," he said. "Despite the scaremongering, I don't see people getting run over left and right by EVs."
Consumers are going to be asked to pay for these systems, and a new survey from Danish startup company ECTunes says they're willing. But the Danish study, which surveyed 464 people, mostly in Europe and North America, was self-conducted, with respondents located in part through LinkedIn.
For what it's worth, 80 percent of survey respondents said they'd be willing to pay $750 for such a sound system. If the price were doubled to $1,500, though, only 12 percent would be willing to spend, and zero percent would support $3,700 sounds. More than 20 percent said they'd be at least interested in choosing their own sounds. Asked if they'd install noisemakers if it increased their cars' safety for pedestrians, nearly 70 percent said yes.
More than 70 percent of survey respondents said they'd expect such systems to be included as standard equipment. And they have definite preferences as to what the sounds should be: Almost 50 percent say they'd prefer a traditional engine sound, and both muscular V-8s (20 percent) and race cars (10 percent) get a lot of support. Twelve percent like a "Star Wars warp speed engine sound," but only a few liked a beep tone. "Specific music" was surprisingly not that popular either at less than five percent.
This is ECTunes' pitch, showing off its sounds in an electric Citroen:
Some automakers are opting out of the EV sound business for now, waiting to see if legislation and the marketplace are going to demand EV sounds. Even if they think it's ridiculous, they're going to have to keep tabs on noise-based pedestrian warning, because momentum is building to require it.
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Photo: ECTunes