As regulations encourage wider adoption of electric cars and more OEMs get into their electric-car stride, we're getting a better idea of what the synthetic tones we'll be hearing on our electrified streets. Not only will it be unlike anything we've ever heard, it could get pretty raucous according to a Bloomberg article that surveys the sound engineers creating the notes sung by electric cars.
Audi e-tron concept – Click above for high-res image gallery
Nissan Leaf EV sound - Click above for video after the jump
Nissan Leaf EV – Click above for high-res image gallery
We can already picture all the NVH engineers huddled in some back corner crying together. After all, they just find out that the duties they held of eliminating noises from cars for decades are about to be crushed by a new safety guideline that will put noise back into electric and hybrid vehicles.
A researcher at Renault said customers surveyed last year about what they want in an electric car responded, "silence, peace of mind and comfortable riding, a windy sound quality, a fluid driving experience like a skipper enjoying a sailboat." That sounds dreamy, until you realize how loud a car really is underneath all of the regular car noises we've come to expect from an ICE-powered ride. For instance, when Jonathon Ramsey
Remember the post a few months ago about blind pedestrians concerned over the silent running of electric vehicles and hybrids. It's a significant issue for the blind community who fear losing mobility if they can't hear a vehicle passing through an intersection or especially in a parking lot where motorists don't always follow prescribed traffic patterns.
