Some Brit robot pulled over at a sobriety check? Actually I have no idea. It's on the Tesla Roaster Facebook page. The caption is just some joke about meeting "Buster" from the TV show.
You guys have all made great points. And certainly I believe this to be a solution looking for a problem as well. Just about everything has already been covered - the EV1's warble, the fact that blind people are NOT being mowed down by today's hybrids and EVs, that noise is just another form of pollution. The problem is not that EVs are quiet - the problem is that other cars make noise! And speaking of looking at this backwards - blind people are killed by gasoline cars every year. Should we make them louder? Should the blind be searching out ways to make gas cars safer since that is today's big risk? Should "pusher" buses be illegal? Or how about this: Turn all this effort 180°. Instead of projecting the responsibility onto the EV makers and drivers - how about finding a solution to protect the blind from ALL dangerous things that move. Pedestrians, bicycles, cars - these things ALL post hazzards to the blind. We can solve this. Being blind is a handicap, and figuring out how to get through the day safely and conveniently is one of the challenges of that handicap. The folks at risk need to find a way to protect themselves - in a way that does not harm everybody else (with extra expense, weight, noise). Ug. I could go on for pages... but will try to restrain myself.
Personal proximity alarm belt. If a fast moving object is headed your direction have an alarm sound or voice saying "object approaching from your left"... The electronics to do such a thing could be small and cheap.
Now wait a minute! You aren't proposing personal responsibility for one's own safety are you? Reality check!
A friend of mine on the PriusChat site works dilligently against this nonesense. He's asked for anybody who's interested in what he is doing to google "Bell the Hybrid" as that is what he has called it from the beginning. When this all originally came up, nobody gave any thoughts to EVs, of course. Hybrids were the silent devil...
Personally, I wouldn't mind having the Roadster's electric motor enhanced much as Ferrari enhances/tunes their exhaust note. If it sounds like Batman's driving it! :biggrin:
Noise Cancellation yes. Let's try it on airplanes and construction sites. Why not have the Tesla make a horse clopping sound adjusted to the cars's speed? Would make the technologically afeared feel better and would make the Holy Grail fans laugh uproariously.
I just want a "quick clip" set of buttons to trigger short MP3 clips so I can challenge at a light with a big sound then blow away the sucker in silence. ;-) Could also suffice for a lower-profile when needed warning around pedestrians. But you put any sort of always-make-noise thing in my car, and I'm getting out the fuse pullers.
" the owners of e-cars, whose worry is that their vehicles make no noise whatsoever." Where are they finding these "e-car worriers?" After spending way too long discussing this topic with EV and hybrid drivers, I'd say about one in 100 think that adding automatic noise makers is a good idea. Jeez. This was solved back in the early 90's with the EV1. Just give me a way to lightly sound a warble tone when the driver thinks it is needed.
The EV1 solved this in a very simple, manually-operated way. The left stalk (the turn-signal stalk) would light the high beams AND sound a warble tone below 25 mph (or was it 15?) when pulled toward you. Above parking lot speeds, it just lit the high beams. The warble tone was a soft, non-threatening sound that was perfect for the application. And it ONLY sounded when the driver wanted it to sound. And for those non-blind pedestrians, it offered up a flash of the high beams as well for that little EXTRA bit of "HEY, I'M HERE!"
How about the "old jalopy" soundtrack. Squealing/squeaking brakes as you pull up... A poorly tuned engine note replete with occasional backfires? YouTube - chitty chitty bang bang YouTube - Beverly Hillbillies Car
I never knew about this. It's great and I wish Tesla had been smart enough to feature something similar. With EV1 team members on the design of the Roadster I wonder why they ignored something so important (I know, it's all about the $$), but still, now they offer so many accessories I hope someone steps up and puts out an aftermarket version. I suggested a foot switch. Was the EV1 warble electronic with a speaker, or...??
About as low-tech as can be. I'm pretty sure that it just sort of burped the regular horn. I should record the sound. We have a functioning one that we're trying to display properly in a local museum. We got it to boot up! It'll warble with the best of them. I'll make it a point to record it next time I'm there.
Thank you in advance for your effort. Maybe you could shoot stills or video if possible. Thanks again.