You Can Soon Choose The Fake Engine Sound Of Your Moving Electric Car

The issue around electric vehicles being too silent has been raised time and again. Earlier, it was the European Union that mandated the use of electronic sounds in electric cars. Now, the US federal government has joined the bandwagon. A slight difference, the US govt wants the vehicle owners to choose their own sound!

The US National Highway Traffic Safety Administration released a notice for the proposed rule on November 1. The notice mentions that the ¡°Drivers would be able to select the sound they prefer from the set of sounds installed in the vehicle.¡±

So essentially, this mandates the addition of more than one fake sounds in each electric vehicle. For now, NHTSA is also looking for feedback on the limit that it should put on the number of these fake sounds in a vehicle.

(Representative Image: Mercedes-AMG)

The proposal seeks to end the prevalent Minimum Sound Requirements for Hybrid and Electric Vehicles by eliminating the current restriction of such sounds to 1 per vehicle. The restriction was put in place in February 2018 upon the passing of the Minimum Sound Requirements for Hybrid and Electric Vehicles. The act was meant to prevent any injury to pedestrians, who can seldom hear an EV move at low speeds, especially those with a hearing impairment.

The deadlines for compliance to these laws is till 2020, while that mentioned by the European Union is 2021.

As per the new law, all EVs weighing 10,000 pounds or 4536 kg or less should emanate a sound to warn the pedestrians around of the movement of the vehicle. Since electric vehicles have a minimal sound of moving, mainly due to the absence of a combustion engine, such sounds become crucial at low speeds and in heavy traffic areas. The law requires the vehicles to have an audible noise when moving (forward or reverse) at speeds of 19 mph (30.5 kmph) or less.

Working on the sounds

Auto makers have already started working on having a unique and appealing sound on their EVs for the vehicle owners. Mercedes-AMG, for instance, recently collaborated with Linkin Park to come up with an apt sound for this. Mainstream electric cars like Nissan leaf, Jaguar i-Pace and Renault Zoe, all come with electronic sounds now. You can check out their sounds here.