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How do you guys feel about the sound or lack of that the roadster will make?

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A beeper for an alert would suck beyond belief. Rush hour would become unbearable for you and the people around you. Better to just hit people.
 
Although I don't particularly care for the beeping noise that comes from trucks backing up, I think I can accept that there might be a need for something (perhaps a little more pleasant sounding perhaps) to get peoples attention when backing up or trying to move forward.  I think this beeping noise should be activated by the driver at need instead of being automatic though!
 
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Regarding safety - when you think about it every hybrid is an "electric" car when it's batteries are charged. With over 500,000 hybrids on the road in the United States the issue is already something being dealt with by various organizations.

http://www.tamcmonterey.org/bpc/mee...rch the effect of quiet cars on pedestrians."

The idea of quiet streets sounds great to me. Just got to kill the boom boxes.
Some day the ZOOM-ZOOM noises will be as quaint as the sound of hoofs on cobblestone.
I will miss the burble-burble from my Miata as I get ready for the curves ahead.
 
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Actually, I don't think sound will be much of an issue. Today's luxury cars are pretty quiet that it's hard to tell if they are even on. Even non-luxury new cars are quiet. I know a few people that have turned the ignition key on and heard the starter's grinding sound because the car was already on.

I doubt most of us listen for the cars sound when they are in the parking lot. Most of us probably see the reverse light or the parking lights. (I'm glad the government made daytime running lights mandatory).

I also used to let my car coast on neutral with the engine off when the muffler was broken. It's not that quiet. The tires hitting the road still make noise.

If people get hit, it will most likely be the same as why they get hit now. Either the pedestrian was not paying attention (i.e. iPod, talking to friend, cell phone) or the the driver was not paying attention (i.e. iPod, talking to friend, cell phone).

The issue will mostly be with deaf and blind people.
 
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I can empathize with someone that may have inadvertently tried to 'start' a vehicle that was already running and hearing the grinding of the starter gear, ouch! To resolve this problem for EV's or PHEV's, we should be able to live with some kind of idiot light that makes it obvious that the vehicle is in a drivable state.

I agree that the greater problem is the potential concern in regards to blind persons. To aid with this, there should probably be some standard enacted which dictates some type of noise being made when a vechicle is stopped or is coming to a stop, or perhaps even up to a certain speed (to cover those times that the vehicle might be traveling in town). I would feel better if the fact that I was driving a vehicle wasn't putting me in a situation where I could appear 'invisible' to anyone around me, although I certainly wouldn't want whatever sound was generated to be intrusive on the driving enjoyment. A deaf person had better not be also blind without having some type of aid (not much that anyone could be expected to help in this case).
 
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EV's are not dead quiet. They just don't make that low frequency rumble that can be heard from miles away. Their noise is of higher frequences that doesn't propagate very far and is somewhat quieter than ICE's noise. The problem is they make it only when moving. From standstill they are very quiet. Could be a problem in a crowded parking lots.
 
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Michael said:
I can empathize with someone that may have inadvertently tried to 'start' a vehicle that was already running and hearing the grinding of the starter gear, ouch!

My papa was nearly deaf and he did that all the time. It always made me cringe.

But the EV has no starter motor, so at least it won't grind.


I agree that the greater problem is the potential concern in regards to blind persons. To aid with this, there should probably be some standard enacted which dictates some type of noise being made when a vechicle is stopped or is coming to a stop, or perhaps even up to a certain speed (to cover those times that the vehicle might be traveling in town).

I might favor some kind of alternate horn, similar to a bicycle bell or a "cricket chirp". I mean something I can trigger myself to alert pedestrians. . . I don't think it should make noises all the time, automatically: that would be truly annoying.
 
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In my opinion, the Roadster and most electric cars in general sound awesome :). I cant wait until the day comes that i get into my EV, step on the accelerator, and hear the satisfying turbine-like whine of the gear reduction unit. wweeeeeeeEEEEEE!!!!

As for safety, I think that the softer horn is a great idea.

- Future
 
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WarpedOne said:
http://www.teslamotors.com/display_data/3768med.mov

Turn on your speakers and watch and listen. Especially when it stops and then starts moving again.
What is that sound?

That deep rumble? That, I believe, is a truck located behind the camera which just happened to start up right when the car did. If you look closely you can see its shadow moving a the last moment before the clip ends.
 
>Insert Quote
>http://www.teslamotors.com/display_data/3768med.mov

>Turn on your speakers and watch and listen. Especially when it stops and then starts moving again.
>What is that sound?

I think it's a combination of a few things. Mostly I belive the camera's microphone is straining to pick up any sounds. Over compensating for the silence. Notice how loud the squeaks of the tires are. You would never even hear those sounds if an ICE was running. Basically it's the car's white noise enhanced.

It's a split braking test with tires on two surfaces so there are two sounds. Tires on snow and tires on pavement. Even at a slow speed snow makes a lot of crunching sounds. there are other wind, and rolling sounds as well. It's tough to exactly say what's going each precise moment because picture and sound are not in perfect sync. But as Tony points out that when the Tesla stops for the second time, the car shadow in the lower right continues to move even as the Roadster sits still. It is likely contributing to the soundtrack.

My ride here: http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=6886362354013029791&q=tesla+debut+roadster+ride&hl=en is totally RAW. From start to finish no edits or sound changes. I tought it would be good that way since most footage is quick cuts backed with music and voice overs. You can hear the sounds just as they were from the car etc.

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Wall St. Journal has article today on car buyers preference for quiet cars and the involved efforts required to diminish the lead cause-wind noise. A sort of differant consideration than those outside the cars perceptions of the cars noise. One measure taken that the Roadster will likley be precluded from is thicker glass. So called piston-heads will have a knee jerk objection to EV's for not hearing all that hosepower roar, efficiency be damned. Most buyers are more interested in hearing nature or their music it seems.
 
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I drive an EV every day. Never a problem with pedestrians, because I look out for them, as any driver should.
When you are piloting an EV, you may have a few bewildered looks when taking off due to people missing something,
but most people never even notice and since I know I drive a rather quiet vehicle, I know that I must look to avoid surprising people when driving slow with non-motorized traffic around.

I read of another EV that was announced with optional clippety-clop sound.
Since hardly anybody (especially in the city) has experience with horses, they won't associate the sound with a vehicle though, but it enforces the back-to-nature character of EVs.

BTW, I totally agree that absence of noise is a good thing. I sleep light. most nights I wake up at 2 or 3 AM because somebody decided that he's let everyone around him in on his love for raw unmuffled explosions.
How about I go and ride my bicycle (or EV) in the middle of the night, banging on a metal trashcan? I would expect that I'd be stopped real soon. I do not understand why this apparently unacceptable racket is 'accepted' from car engines.
Personally I find that as tasteful as farting as loud as you can. Ditto for the boom-boxes that make my bedroom windows rattle.
There is a clear Vehicle Code prohibition on modified exhausts and audio volume. Unfortunately it is never enforced, so there is not a person who realizes that he even does something illegal (besides knowing courtesy and treading lightly while other people sleep).
Why do you think that property next to a busy road is so cheap? Three reasons:
Noise, noise and noise. You can take care of most every other problem, but noise is a very sneaky opponent.
EVs are truly a relief in this respect.
 
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the National Federation of the Blind (NFB), an advocacy group that is calling for all hybrid vehicles to emit a sound when turned on, and this noise needs to be loud enough to hear over ambient traffic noise.

So in the end, we'll end up with electric vehicles that are louder than ICE vehicles? I don't understand this concern, because ICE vehicles are already very quiet at low speeds, why don't blind people have a problem with that? It's impossible to hear a slow car coming your way, if there is also ambient traffic noise. But this apparently poses no problem.

If the EV is moving so slow that even it's tires make very little noise, then it would be very difficult to hit somebody that crossed the street without looking. If you're on a road where higher speeds are allowed, I hardly think blind people will just cross the road at any point, quiet cars or not.
 
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