Electric car noise is now a problem. The problem is that electric cars make no noise. It is nearly silent when you have hybrid cars in electric mode at lower speeds. All of these hybrid cars on the street are silent but deadly. More pedestrians are reported to be hit, especially blind ones. Congress has bounced around bills to require automakers to add noise to hybrid cars since 2008. Wednesday, automakers and advocates for the blind presented Congress with a proposal to build in noise 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 hybrid cars hitting pedestrians more often than any cars in situations where the approaching car cannot be seen. Blind pedestrians using a guide dog or cane have to be able to hear the sounds of traffic to cross streets safely according to the National Federation for the Blind. People with sight also rely on sound to gauge the distance and speed of oncoming cars.
More hybrid cars hitting the road
Electric car noise, or the lack of it, emerged as an issue when mass production of hybrid cars started in 2000. A 2009 study, reported on topbits.com explained that drivers have used financing like secured loans to purchase more than 1.6 million hybrids ever since then. The number of hybrids on the road grow from a dozen to a lot more than 1.6 million in just 10 years. This rate is expected to accelerate as more automakers are focusing on hybrids. As reported by hybridcar.som, total U.S. hybrid sales for April 2010 were 23,561 — a 1.2 percent increase from 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 of 2010
Electric car noise advocates consist of The Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers, the American Council for the Blind, the Association of International Automobile Manufacturers, and also the National Federation for the Blind. The groups recommended numerous different things to Congress that they would like to see incorporated within the Motor Safety Act of 2010, a bill now moving through Congress that would update national auto safety rules. The need for electric car noise first emerged in the Pedestrian Safety Enhancement Act of 2008–only to become the Pedestrian Safety Enhancement Act of 2009. The electric car noise now appears to be gaining traction.
Car manufacturers of Hybrid making noise
Electric car noise is already used by leading hybrid car manufacturers. However, Nissan is preparing to enter the hybrid car market a step ahead of the competition when it comes to electric car noise. Bloomberg reports that three years ago Nissan told engineer Toshiyuki Tabata to re-create the sound of an engine. Tabata spent 30 years as a Nissan Motor Co. engineer trying to make gasoline-powered cars quieter. Now he is teaching composers how to make cars noisier.
The electric car noise art
To create the right audio for electric car noise, Nissan consulted Japanese film score composers. Tabata and his team cooked up a high-pitched futuristic sound reminiscent of the flying cars in “Blade Runner,” the 1982 science fiction film starring Harrison Ford portraying an android bounty hunter in a dark, dismal future LA. “We wanted something a bit different, something closer to the world of art,” Tabata said. A sound system activates automatically when the car starts and deactivates after the car is going 12 miles per hour. Usually, wind and tire noise is enough to make the car detectable at higher speeds.
Regulating electric car noisemakers
Car electronics manufacturers have also developed electric car noisemakers. Tokyo-based Datasystem Co. makes a device selling for $ 140 that emits 16 different sounds including a cat’s meow, a cartoon-like “boing” and a human voice saying, “Excuse me.” The language proposed by the electric car noise advocacy group would regulate these products. Their version of the bill would have the NHTSA create a new safety standard for all hybrid cars that would be establishing a minimum sound required at low speeds. Drivers couldn’t customize the sound of their cars the exact same way they download ringtones for cell phones. Instead, hybrid car manufacturers would provide an approved sound or set of sounds for a given make and model.
GM electric cars
One electric car highly anticipated is the Chevy Volt. GM’s electric cars have different technology than other hybrid systems. As reported on greencarreports.com, Chevy said the Volt may 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 dying down. A generator that is linked to the engine creates electricity and powers the electric motor, extending the Volt’s range up to 300 miles.
More data 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
