Active noise cancellation?

[Blastphemy]

Are there other cars that have this feature, like the Bose headphones? It seems like a decent idea, but also seems like it wouldn't be legal. You still have to be able to hear things like sirens and car horns coming from outside!

Infiniti has had this in its M sedan since the 2011 model year (released March 2010). It sorta works, but there's still appreciable road and wind noise under certain conditions; but on smooth pavement with no wind, the car is virtually silent. Still not a Lexus LS460 (or even a Hyundai Equus), but still quite good. From what I understand, the Model-S may be the quietest car available when it's released, and that's without electronic noise cancellation.

 

[Robert.Boston]

Why is there no hard data on cabin noise levels? Surely someone could develop a standardized test and publish results.

 

[AudubonB]

Trying to revive this very old thread as it has the most appropriate of the various titles dealing with this.

In the last three years, Harman has come into the market - or at least the vaporware world - with an automotive NC system; theirs uses sensors and cancelers on each of a cabin's four corners.

I would think that given the source and reasonably simple harmonics of noise in a Tesla - tires, motor hum and wind - noise cancellation would be an easier task than it would be in an engine-driven, mechanically-linked vehicle.

The cost of adding in NC should be offset somewhat by the lessened need for noise insulation; also to the extent that is eliminated, there is a concurrent drop in vehicular weight.

We didn't get this in the Model S....can I get everyone's approval for me to wish for it in the X? The 3?

 

[BerTX]

I think it's a great idea. Perhaps re-name it something that will properly set peoples expectations, though. I know I was very disappointed when I bought active noise cancelling headphones to use in an open office area. They cancelled all the white noise and could do nothing for eliminating conversation, so in effect it highlighted the people talking.

I think people expect it to reduce horns or sirens, or the occasional boom-thumping car stereo broadcast, but it just makes them easier to hear.

 

[paulwesterberg]

I just got some bose noise cancelling headphones and was happily surprised to find that they almost entirely blocked out dynamic music that I was playing on my stereo system. I think that the problem with active noise cancelation in a vehicle is that it won't be able to effectively target its cancelation sounds to all passengers.

 

[murphyS85]

My 2013 Ford Fusion Energi Titanium has active noise cancellation.

 

[AudubonB]

Paul: I was in one of Bombardier's new planes a short while back and was astonished how quiet the cabin was...a crew member told me it was because of active NC. In that application, anyway, the entire set of passengers enjoyed its benefits, so that per se
is not necessarily a factor. Here is a link to what Harman was purported to be showing at 2015 CES: Harmans in-car noise cancelling reduces road noise | Digital Trends

 

[woof]

In 2005 Acura had ANC in the RL. It worked for low frequency engine growl*, not so much for higher frequency tire and wind noise. Of course, now we are 10 years later. And yes, I want it on the X!

*I find it fascinating that BMW adds engine growl back in to the i8.

 

[gene]

I heard somewhere, that Elon specifically did not want active noise cancellation in the Model S. He wanted the car designed to be quiet with no band-aides. For the X, I have no idea but I'd wager no active noise cancellation. The reason for active noise cancellation that some manufacturers use is that it is much less expensive than building the car properly to begin with.

 

[SUN-day Driver]

The passive sound-deadening in the interior is quite remarkable. When I first got to sit in a beta Model S at the opening of the Bellevue, WA store, I was immediately struck by how acoustically "dead" the interior is. The noise of the huge crowd outside was substantially muted, even before the doors were shut. When they were shut, ahhhh! I think they learned their lesson on this from the Roadster, with its need for retrofitted insulation, and designed it right up front, just as dsm363 says above.

It's interesting reading back in this thread how quiet the Model S was predicted to be before anyone had one. One of the only things that disappointed me when we got ours was how loud the road noise in the cabin is. I don't know if it comes from the tires (19") or what, but I have to crank up the sound system to hear it at highway speeds over all the road noise, and then when I stop I can hear how very loud the radio is in the absence of all that noise, and I have to turn it way down. I was hoping for a much quieter driving experience from the Model S than what was delivered. Mine is from 2013. Does anyone know if they have since improved the road noise in newer revisions?