Pedestrian Noise Maker Retrofit for 2017/2018 Models

[WarEagleX]

Mine (picked up Feb-8) makes no noise going forward either. I actually bought the removal kit, but I actually like the UFO reversing sound. My Club Car electric golf cart has the same requirement where it makes a warning noise in reverse but makes no sound going forward - it has a top speed of 20 MPH. Maybe Tesla didn't turn the forward noise on?

 

[Resist]

Why would anyone want this if their car wasn't required to have it? It's just another useless expense and it uses precious battery power. If down the road Tesla lets you pick from different sounds, I guess then it could be kind of fun. Imagine your car sounding like a throaty V8 muscle car.

 

[Piblokto]

Meh, mine (Sep ‘19) was one of the first to have it, and while i had known about it, I wasn’t able to confirm it was actually there til 3 months later, when my teen son drove it away as I watched, and then I thought it was cool. Context of course, it was dusk, a white/white car, and so with the sound it was like a spaceship driving away and totally awesome. To folks thinking about disabling it, IMO do it only if the sound truly bothers you while you’re in the car, and not because of the concept. Nobody is perfect, we all lose focus at least occasionally, and on one of those days, why let disabling it increase risk to another life. But again, just MO.

 

[NathanielHrnblwr]

The option to have a soft horn - similar to the walk away confirmation could be useful for oblivious people. Some stock car alarm have a low volume "bup bup bup" when arming or disarming. Something like that to tap if someone is in the way or you want to alert surroundings prior to backing up. The regular horn is quite loud and would likely piss people off if you honked at them lol.

 

[drdumont]

My Tesla Guy was unaware of the change. This is the first Feb build car he has seen.
I've got to look up the legislation and see what the precise language is.

 

[jfinephilly]

Why would anyone want this if their car wasn't required to have it? It's just another useless expense and it uses precious battery power. If down the road Tesla lets you pick from different sounds, I guess then it could be kind of fun. Imagine your car sounding like a throaty V8 muscle car.

Precious battery power. Come on. First it’s a useful safety feature and second how much “precious” battery power do you think is being used.

 

[Resist]

Precious battery power. Come on. First it’s a useful safety feature and second how much “precious” battery power do you think is being used.

Yes precious battery power! By itself no it's not much, but add it in with everything else in the car that uses juice and didn't need to be electric and our range keeps dropping. This was an unnecessary Federal requirement because even the blind can hear a cars tire noise, and every new vehicle on the road is just as quiet moving at low speeds as an EV. The issue is that people today are more concerned in their stupid phones than watching where they are walking. When was the last time you saw a pedestrian look into drivers eyes, before crossing the street, to make sure he's seen by that driver? Instead that text is more important. You don't correct stupid behavior by adding to noise pollution.

 

[Resist]

Meh, mine (Sep ‘19) was one of the first to have it, and while i had known about it, I wasn’t able to confirm it was actually there til 3 months later

I heard it right away when I test drove a Performance. Hard to believe you didn't notice it until 3 months later.

 

[turok3000]

Why would anyone want this if their car wasn't required to have it? It's just another useless expense and it uses precious battery power. If down the road Tesla lets you pick from different sounds, I guess then it could be kind of fun. Imagine your car sounding like a throaty V8 muscle car.

Because crawling through a busy car park behind blissfully unaware pedestrians waiting for them to notice you and move out of the way gets old after a while. At low speeds, I would most certainly prefer that pedestrians / cyclists near me knew I was there. It's safer for them and for me.

 

[Resist]

Because crawling through a busy car park behind blissfully unaware pedestrians waiting for them to notice you and move out of the way gets old after a while. At low speeds, I would most certainly prefer that pedestrians / cyclists near me knew I was there. It's safer for them and for me.

Doesn't matter that it gets old after a while, pedestrians have the right of way. And again an EV isn't completely silent to pedestrians. It's certainly louder than a bicycle and they aren't required to have this system.

 

[run-the-joules]

I'm against the mandate for these systems, but let's dissect this:

Doesn't matter that it gets old after a while, pedestrians have the right of way.

Someone can be in the right while also being a jackass. As someone who is usually right and usually a jackass, I feel qualified to say this. But most peds, in my experience, don't intentionally walk in the middle of a traffic aisle, it's based on inattentiveness.

 

[turok3000]

Doesn't matter that it gets old after a while, pedestrians have the right of way.

Of course, otherwise I would just mow through them and my example would be invalid

And again an EV isn't completely silent to pedestrians. It's certainly louder than a bicycle and they aren't required to have this system.

Sure but you asked why someone might want it and I gave you a practical example, that's all. In a busy car park, it's easy to "surprise" pedestrians and often not in a way that they appreciate.

 

[jfinephilly]

Yes precious battery power! By itself no it's not much, but add it in with everything else in the car that uses juice and didn't need to be electric and our range keeps dropping. This was an unnecessary Federal requirement because even the blind can hear a cars tire noise, and every new vehicle on the road is just as quiet moving at low speeds as an EV. The issue is that people today are more concerned in their stupid phones than watching where they are walking. When was the last time you saw a pedestrian look into drivers eyes, before crossing the street, to make sure he's seen by that driver? Instead that text is more important. You don't correct stupid behavior by adding to noise pollution.

Yea, I disagree with all of this. If your range is so negatively impacted by this you shouldn’t be driving this vehicle. It’s drain is minimal at best. This car is far quieter at low speeds than any car I’ve ever owned or noticed driving. Not all pedestrians are distracted and even if there are distracted individuals this is the society we live in

 

[Roy W.]

Some news on the PWS retrofit…

PWS Retrofit