Electric car noise is now a problem. The problem is that electric cars make no noise. It is nearly silent whenever you have hybrid cars in electric mode at lower speeds. With a lot more hybrid cars on the streets, and a lot more to come, hybrid cars have become silent but deadly. A lot more pedestrians, especial blind ones, are getting hit. Given that 2008, bills to require automakers to add noise to hybrid cars have bounced around Congress. But on Wednesday automakers and advocates for the blind presented Congress with a proposal to build in minimum noise levels for future electric cars as part of the Federal Motor Safety Act.
Blind must hear electric car noise
Automobile safety is focusing on electric car noise right now. CNN Money.com reports that a study done last year by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) showed that hybrid cars hit pedestrians more often than other cars in situations where the approaching car can’t be seen. According to the National Federation for the Blind, blind individuals need to be able to safely cross the street with a guide dog or cane and by listening to the sounds of traffic. Also, everybody relies on the sound of cars to gauge how far away the car is.
A lot more hybrid cars on the road
The electric car noise problem started in 2000 with the mass production of hybrid cars. A 2009 study, reported on topbits.com concluded that drivers have used financing like quick unsecured loans to purchase a lot more than 1.6 million hybrids since then. In 10 years, the number of hybrids on the road grew from a dozen to more than 1.6 million. This considerable rate of growth is expected to accelerate as a lot more automakers set out to create more hybrids. Total U.S. hybrid sales for April 2010, as reported by hybridcars.com, were 23,561 — which is a 1.2 percent increase from the just the month before, and an 8.4 percent increase from April 2009 from one year ago. Sales of the Honda Insight increased by nearly 14 percent from last month
The Federal Motor Safety Act
Electric car noise advocates consist of The Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers, the Association of International Automobile Manufacturers, the American Council for the Blind and also the National Federation for the Blind. The groups recommended language to Congress they would like to see involved in the Motor Safety Act of 2010, a bill that is now moving through Congress and would update national auto safety rules. The need for electric car noise first emerged within the Pedestrian Safety Enhancement Act of 2008–only to become the Pedestrian Safety Enhancement Act of 2009. Now the electric car noise issue seems to be gaining traction.
Car manufacturers of Hybrid making noise
Electric car noise is already being considered by leading hybrid car manufacturers. Nissan plans to get to the hybrid car market a step ahead of the competition when it comes to car noise. Bloomberg reports that 3 years ago Nissan told engineer Toshiyuki Tabata to re-create the sound of an engine. Tabata spent 20 years trying to make gasoline powered cars quieter. Now he is teaching composers how to make cars noisier.
The electric car noise art
To find the right sound of a car, Nissan talked to Japanese film score composers. Tabata and his team cooked up a high-pitched futuristic sound reminiscent of the flying cars in “Blade Runner,” which is the 1982 science fiction film that stars Harrison Ford portraying an android bounty hunter in a dark, dismal future Los Angeles. “We wanted something a bit different, something closer to the world of art,” Tabata said. To produce the electric car noise, a sound system activates automatically when the car starts and deactivates when the vehicle reaches 12 miles per hour. When going faster than that, wind and tire noise should make the car detectable.
Regulating electric car noisemakers
Numerous different car electronic manufacturers have developed car noisemakers. Tokyo-based Datasystem Co. makes a device selling for $ 140 that gives off 16 different sounds which involves a cat’s meow, a cartoon-like “boing” and a human voice saying, “Excuse me.” these products would be regulated. Their version of the bill would have the NHTSA create a new safety standard for hybrid cars establishing a minimum sound required at low speeds. Drivers couldn’t customize the sound of their cars the same way they download ringtones for cell phones. The set of sounds for a given make and model would have to be approved.
GM and their electric cars
One of the most anticipated electric cars is the Chevy Volt. GM’s electric cars have different technology than other hybrid systems. As reported on greencarreports.com, Chevy said the Volt will have a driver-controlled system that produces an “automotive quality sound” that pedestrians would instantly recognize, referred to as a series of low horn audio signals or cues. GM’s electric car can travel 40 miles on its battery. Instead of kicking in at a certain speed, the Volt’s 1.4 liter, 4-cylinder gas powered engine fires up when the battery is depleted. A generator linked to the engine actually creates electricity and powers the electric motor, extending the Volt’s range up to around 300 miles.
More information on this topic
CNN Money.com reports
http://money.cnn.com/2010/05/19/autos/electric_car_noise/?npt=NP1
hybrid car manufacturers
http://www.cardealexpert.com/news-information/auto-news/bmw-project-i-megacity-2013/
Bloomberg reports
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601109&sid=aIqaK2fByA.8
greencarreports.com
http://www.greencarreports.com/blog/1039019_2011-chevrolet-volt-pedestrian-alert-system-will-be-driver-controlled
