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Should EVs Make Artificial Sounds at Low Speeds?

Discussion in 'Electric Vehicles' started by Brent, Apr 10, 2008.

  1. No2DinosaurFuel

    No2DinosaurFuel Active Member

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    Hey internal combustion vehicles are a dying breed. They need every advantage they can to survive! : )
     
  2. Migizi

    Migizi Member

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    Elon has kept another promise with the lates software update 2020.48.26
    a plethora of sounds now avail - even customizable :rolleyes:
     
  3. Candleflame

    Candleflame Active Member

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    it not the rolls royces or teslas which are the problem. its the tiny 1.2L engine hatchbacks which make hardly any tirenoise and engine noise.
     
  4. banned-66611

    banned-66611 Guest

    Oh god it's horrendous, you can change the horn sound and the pedestrian warning sound to anything, even use your own sounds on a USB stick.

    Fortunately I think it might be illegal around here as both of those things are regulated but I feel for the poor people who will have to put up with asshats and their fart sounds.
     
  5. Migizi

    Migizi Member

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    No...the fun is just farting, er ah, I mean starting....

    The jestons vehicle
    Bumble Bee
    Kit (Knight Rider)
    Diesel Truck idling
    Car miss firing and back firing
    Call of a Loon
    clip from Low Rider
    clip from Drive My Car

    just to name a few
     
  6. HankLloydRight

    HankLloydRight No Roads

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    Just to remind people -- now shipping: https://ev-tsla.com/wasp/horn.php
    You can add all the sound clips you want, too.

     
    • Like x 1
    • Love x 1
  7. banned-66611

    banned-66611 Guest

    It's a safety device that stops people being hit by your car. If you change it to something stupid and they get injured or killed... That's on you.

    What is it with Tesla drivers? Autopilot safety defeat devices were bad enough.
     
    • Disagree x 1
  8. HankLloydRight

    HankLloydRight No Roads

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    It's actually a safety device to alert people of your presence.

    Whatever the sound may be, it's better than no sound at all, even if you consider it "stupid."
     
    • Like x 2
    • Disagree x 1
  9. DaveG_NJ

    DaveG_NJ Member

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    On my car at least, the new Boombox sounds play IN ADDITION TO, and not instead of, the default PWS sounds, which is kind of lame. But I suppose, if the Boombox actually replaced the PWS sounds, you could put an MP3 of silence on your USB drive and completely defeat PWS.
     
    • Informative x 1
  10. Migizi

    Migizi Member

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    good grief - Go back to your prius
    NO TESLA FOR YOU!
     
  11. banned-66611

    banned-66611 Guest

    You half understood the problem. It's supposed to alert people to your presence... So making it sound like something that they would ignore, or a sound that suggests it is something other than a couple of tonnes of metal hurtling down the road is a really bad idea.

    That's why there needs to be a standard for these things. Minimum volume level, some measure of how noticeable it is (e.g. no high pitch sounds older people can't hear) and something that suggests a car approaching. We already have similar standards for vehicle reversing sounds in the EU, for example.

    The horn as well, it's considered a safety device and must conform to certain parameters so that it is actually useful. The Tesla ones, like the random guy talking for example, are completely useless for the actual purpose a horn is there for.
     
    • Disagree x 1
  12. arnis

    arnis Member

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    #1472 arnis, Dec 27, 2020
    Last edited: Dec 27, 2020
    I hope Tesla will one day play that sound only if it makes sense to play pedestrian "music".
    That means detecting people walking in parking lots, kids playing ball etc..

    Also Level2: loud alert (not manual horn) to those who actually are illegally on driving trajectory (jaywalkers etc).

    Hmm, should tweet that idea to Musk.

    Like that?
    https://twitter.com/ArnisTarassu/status/1343156232090243072?s=20
     
  13. banned-66611

    banned-66611 Guest

    I hope not, then we are all forced to join the Tesla beta testing programme.
     
    • Funny x 1
  14. wdolson

    wdolson Well-Known Member

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    Even if someone can hear higher frequencies, lower frequencies are much easier to locate in space. A spread spectrum of sounds is ever easier to locate.
     
    • Informative x 1
  15. zecar

    zecar Member

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    We are already deep into that choice.
     
  16. banned-66611

    banned-66611 Guest

    True, although I would rather have my car protecting me from Tesla beta software than being a vulnerable, fleshy pedestrian.
     
  17. drtimhill

    drtimhill Active Member

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    First, these things work only at low speed, so "hurtling" seems misleading. Second, much of the "attention" is more related to novelty. Once you get used to a noise you tend to blank it out (nurses have this problem in ICU/CCU with alarms, which go off so often they get used to them). Finally, the legislation is stupid since it says EVs should have the sound makers, rather than any car that makes less than a certain amount of natural noise.

    I'm all for making roads safer, especially for those with sight/sound challenges, I just dont think this knee-jerk legislation was very well thought through, and we could and should do much better.
     
    • Like x 2
  18. tomas

    tomas Out of warranty...

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    This. Many ICE cars made now shut off motor at idle, so they are sitting silently at intersections until they begin moving. I suspect singling out EVs comes from auto industry lobby and is more of a shot at Tesla than a true attempt to address the issue.
     
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    • Informative x 1
  19. Dave EV

    Dave EV Active Member

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    Exactly. While I would highly prefer no mandatory noise-makers on vehicles, if they are going to mandate them, they should be regulated independent of the type of drivetrain.
     
    • Like x 1
  20. arnis

    arnis Member

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    PHEVs don't have that requirement even though they mostly drive electric at low speed.
     

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