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Should EVs Make Artificial Sounds at Low Speeds?
- Thread starter Brent
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- Electric Vehicles
Merrill
Merrill
Please no noise, I have a F-150 and when I go down my road there are always idiots who are walking and do not move to the side of the road, they can here my truck and it makes no difference. So why should I ruin my quite car for those stupid or non caring people. It is like the guy who fell off a ladder and the government made the ladder manufactures put all kind of warnings all over the ladder.
WannabeOwner
Well-Known Member
I think?? that Tesla proposed that, given that modern cars have pedestrian / obstruction detection ability then only produce a noise when there is someone at risk.
Otherwise I can't begin to imagine what slow crawling traffic (i.e. MPH below the noise-required-threshold) will sound like in towns, or half a dozen cars manoeuvring in a car park ...
byt
Member
I like that! Since the car's with AP2.0 can detect pedestrians anyway, have the car blast in a RoboCop Voice "Watch for oncoming traffic!"
In all honesty, there is WAY TOO MUCH noise pollution as it is! By purchasing an EV we are saying NO to Air Pollution, NO to Noise Pollution, and NO To Idiot Pollution. I'm sorry if you own a loud ass motorcycle but I get mad when my ears hurt and chest beats un-naturally because some moron wanted the HUGE pipes on their crotch rocket! Triggering ever car alarm it drives by, those oxygen wasters should be fined and the noisemakers confiscated after a 3rd offense!
In all honesty, there is WAY TOO MUCH noise pollution as it is! By purchasing an EV we are saying NO to Air Pollution, NO to Noise Pollution, and NO To Idiot Pollution. I'm sorry if you own a loud ass motorcycle but I get mad when my ears hurt and chest beats un-naturally because some moron wanted the HUGE pipes on their crotch rocket! Triggering ever car alarm it drives by, those oxygen wasters should be fined and the noisemakers confiscated after a 3rd offense!
I was just thinking that another annoying thing about mandated noises at low speed would be disturbing your neighborhood when you pulled into your own garage. Imagine your neighbor comes home late at night, or has to leave for work before you get up and you have to put up with the noise all the time?
In our house, the master bedroom is in the front of the house. It's generally a quiet neighborhood so it's not normally a problem, but we had a guy living in a rental a few doors up with a diesel pickup who left for work at 5 AM every morning. When the weather was cold he'd start up the truck and leave it to idle for 20 minutes. My SO measured 75 dB at her pillow when he was doing that.
An EV coming and going would not be as bad as that bozo, but a few EVs in the neighborhood all beeping pulling out of the garage would really be sleep disrupting!
This is a government mandate, so it's unlikely to change, but I like the idea of a low volume horn better or a low speed sound maker that can be manually turned on by the driver. That way if you are pulling out of a garage with a blind exit on a busy city street the driver can turn it on to warn others, but most of the time it would not be on as it isn't needed. I also think all cars with a quiet idle should be required to have it. There are plenty of ICE that you can't hear coming when they are moving at low speed.
In our house, the master bedroom is in the front of the house. It's generally a quiet neighborhood so it's not normally a problem, but we had a guy living in a rental a few doors up with a diesel pickup who left for work at 5 AM every morning. When the weather was cold he'd start up the truck and leave it to idle for 20 minutes. My SO measured 75 dB at her pillow when he was doing that.
An EV coming and going would not be as bad as that bozo, but a few EVs in the neighborhood all beeping pulling out of the garage would really be sleep disrupting!
This is a government mandate, so it's unlikely to change, but I like the idea of a low volume horn better or a low speed sound maker that can be manually turned on by the driver. That way if you are pulling out of a garage with a blind exit on a busy city street the driver can turn it on to warn others, but most of the time it would not be on as it isn't needed. I also think all cars with a quiet idle should be required to have it. There are plenty of ICE that you can't hear coming when they are moving at low speed.
int32_t
Tesla Spotter
Yup, a second mildly annoying but not loud or startling horn should be mandatory for ALL vehicles (ICEs too) as a "Look, there's a car behind you!" horn for parking-lot wanderers. Drivers who aren't smart enough to use the extra noise when it's necessary shouldn't have a license in the first place. We don't need automatic noises especially if we have backup cameras.
WannabeOwner
Well-Known Member
I could have done with that in the car park the other day. Dosey pedestrian wandering in the middle of the road and, short of using the loud horn that would have made her jump out of her skin, I just edged past her. When she turned to see me she jumped out of her skin anyway!
I keep threatening to hook up a bicycle bell sounder under the hood with a remote button; can't find the YouTube I originally saw it on, but this one is humorous and clearly works well
Many modern gas cars are nearly as quiet at low speeds as are EVs. And many people just don't pay attention to their surroundings, even when walking in parking lots where there are cars. On my Zap Xebra I installed a switch on the back-up beeper. I could turn it on and off. When backing out of parking spaces in a parking lot, it was a very nice thing to have. But I could turn it off when not needed. Every car (not just EVs) should have a back-up beeper that the driver can turn on for backing out of blind parking spots, and off when not needed.
I do not want my car making a continuous non-stop sound. But honestly, pedestrians are often oblivious to me not making any noise, I wish there was something on-demand I could use. My horn, even a quick "toot", seems inappropriate with pedestrians (opposed to when you alert another driver to something).
rucksack
Member
I'd like mine to sound like a horse drawn carriage r better yet, a six team stagecoach. Yeah, that's the ticket.
Then again, I have read that people used to die by stepping into horse drawn traffic as far back as when the chariot was the hot thing. Speaking of horse traffic and stepping into ... nah, not going there.
Then again, I have read that people used to die by stepping into horse drawn traffic as far back as when the chariot was the hot thing. Speaking of horse traffic and stepping into ... nah, not going there.
Skotty
2014 S P85 | 2023 F-150L
Using autopilot hardware to detect pedestrians and only making noise when pedestrians are detected is the only reasonable approach, short of just having no sound at all.
int32_t
Tesla Spotter
No kidding! I think a reasonably loud beeper device, activated just like a horn, would be excellent in these situations. Think: the chirp some polite vehicles make when you unlock them, vs the rude horn that most North American automakers use for the same purpose. That way, you'd have the "I mean business" horn and the "Hello, please excuse me" horn, available to use at your discretion as the driver. No continuous annoying noises, and safety when you need it. Nobody claims we should drive vehicles with the horn sounding continuously to warn other drivers, and I firmly believe the same applies to artificial noises for pedestrians.
Agreed! Either a chirp or a buzz. My old Zap Xebra had a back-up beeper, like heavy construction equipment uses. It also had a spare switch that was not used for anything. I had the back-up beeper wired through that switch, so it would beep when in reverse if and only if I had that switch on. Great for backing out of parking spaces.
EVs, as you suggest, should have a chirper or a buzzer that the driver could activate, or that the AP would activate when it detects a pedestrian while the vehicle is moving at slow speed. For that matter, some gas cars are extremely quiet at slow speed. All cars should have two sounds: A loud blaring horn for when a car is about to pull right in front of you, and a gentler sound for when you are backing out of a parking space. No car should be required to make a continuous sound.
EVie'sDad
Member
Why not just have a freight train blaring from the Tesla when pedestrians stray in front of the vehicle! Scare the hell out of them.
That will make them think twice about navigating a parking lot or across the street while staring blissfully into their cell phones.
I have a wooden train whistle. Basically, it's four whistles in one, and when you blow into it you get a sound like a train's horn. I used to carry it in my Zap Xebra and blow it at people in parking lots. More often than not, it got no response at all. I do think a buzz or chirp that the driver could engage with a switch on the dashboard would be perfect for low-speed driving in parking lots. For any car. Not just EVs.
doctorwho
Active Member
int32_t
Tesla Spotter
I've always thought it's ironic that these spacecraft, supposedly in a vacuum, make these noises. Or is Star Wars not in a vacuum?
I've always thought it's ironic that these spacecraft, supposedly in a vacuum, make these noises. Or is Star Wars not in a vacuum?
The vacuum is what's inside the skulls of the writers of these movies.
