Or the fake v8 sound pumped thru the ecoboost trucks radio.

 

That’s true, but I’d have a much bigger problem with something that the whole world could hear. My 2011 Mustang had a hose connecting the intake to the firewall to pipe in engine noise. Automakers have been tuning the way their engines sound for years, so that doesn’t bother me much.

But a completely synthetic sound that makes a silent powertrain obnoxious is a completely different thing to me. Nope. Not my thing.

 

If memory serves, ALL ev's must produce some sort of sound for public safety or some such bs and is only required for low speeds as the tires make enough noise otherwise?

 

Yes. But this is just a bit beyond the requirement.

 

That's gotta be a push button for the driver to utilize. No way can that be automatic as per safety regs. If not lol that's just retarded, much like the "fart horn" on Tesla's.

 

If these EV's run as silently as claimed then maybe some sort of sound accompanying their movement would save injuring the nincompoops who pay no attention to on-coming traffic or walking behind a backing vehicle? Most commercial vehicles and a growing number of personal "back up alarms" work to do that already. Whether the noise is fake exhaust or a warning beep/buzz of some kind its not the worst idea.

 

In the statement below I'm not referring to the car in the video Tom posted above, but other EV's...

Perhaps the added engine or exhaust noise inside the cabin is meant to hide or mask the sound of the electric motor. People may not be accustomed to the whine of the motor as it picks up or maintains speed.

For example and purely speculation...

When I saw that Lucid Air a month ago it went by me at about 45 MPH. I saw the car and recognized it, then I heard the motors whine and then I heard the tires as it went by. Cancelling an unfamiliar noise out with another familiar and artificially introduced noise is a possibility.

Another example is a white noise or static machine that people sometimes use to sleep better. This is not for EV purposes, but a similar concept in my opinion.

 

I agree. Most hybrid manufacturers started doing this voluntarily about ten years ago, but it wasn’t a requirement until about 2020. My 2019 Model 3 didn’t have the external speaker, but my new one does. This is a lousy video from my Arlo camera where you can hear it.


I don’t think so. I’ve had two Teslas and a Kia. The Kia was the only one that had an electronically generated “engine sound,” which wasn’t anything like the Dodge version. It was from the internal speakers only, and you could change the tone among three options or shut it off completely.

I’ve never been in a car with audible motors. When you shut the noise off on the Kia, all you heard was silence and maybe a bit more road noise. On most of them, you can hear a muffled high-pitched electronic squeal from the inverters if you stomp on the accelerator pedal, but you really have to strain to listen for it. I don’t think I’ve heard that on my Model Y at all. If you’re hearing the motors in an electric car, it’s probably a sign of something failing.

 

Tom, I'm not saying your wrong or that I am wrong.

I am saying there was definitely an audible motor noise coming from the Lucid EV as it approached me and as it went by. Perhaps that noise is not heard in the cabin of said vehicle though.

I searched for "what sounds does an EV make" and this was the very first video that came up. At timestamp 3:08 he talks about accelerating in his Tesla S and the new prototype roadster.


This is akin to what I was talking about. Some people fear change or sounds that are missing after growing accustomed to them for 20+ years.

I understand and agree that this is something that may or should be able to be turned off, as you stated. Just like auto stop and start for an ICE vehicle or lane assistance or any other creature comfort option on a modern vehicle.

Getting off topic now, so please disregard if I have stumbled too far off the path.

 

You heard the Lucid pedestrian alert system. You didn’t hear the motors.

It’s described more here: https://lucidowners.com/threads/pede...g-system.1107/

 

In my humble opinion, that is not right.

In my post above and the one you quoted, I stated the Lucid EV was going about 45 MPH as it went by me. This was on a country two lane road with a speed limit of 50 MPH and the Lucid was in no way going slow or below 15 MPH. The driver was accelerating as he went by me and around the sweeping curve.

This is not a bad thing in my opinion, just an observation.

I read through the posts in the link you provided to the Lucid Owners forum and even watched the Twitter video. Unless the Lucid emits a pedestrian warning sound at 45 MPH and above, that is not the whirring/whining electric motor sound I heard as the car approached and went by me.



In the video below, I can hear an electric motor sound from KIA EV6 GT as the driver accelerates. I would imagine this is louder outside the vehicle and when not being listened to over a tablet after the sound was recorded by a microphone and then processed while editing the footage. Unless this is the sound you mentioned in your post.

 

I don’t know. I’ve never owned a Lucid.

But for electric motors, I’ve had a 2006 Prius and a 2019 Model 3 that had no pedestrian warning system. I’ve never heard anything beyond inverter squeal from either of them, and that only happened when I was under heavy throttle. It’s a distinct sound, and has a direct relation to throttle application rather than motor RPM. When driving with the window down, the only thing I’ve ever heard was tire noise on the pavement.

I’ve also had a 2014 Prius, a 2022 EV6, and my current Model Y; each with a pedestrian warning system. Those are almost completely inaudible from inside the car, but you can hear them clearly at lower speeds with the windows down. At higher speeds, I’ve never heard anything over wind noise with the windows down.

Out of everything I’ve owned, I can’t say that I’ve ever heard a motor noise. To my ears, they are completely silent, which means those pedestrian warning systems are important. I’m JW’s nincompoop who would be absent-minded enough to walk in front of one, so it’s probably for the best.

 

This was completely out of left field. Not that I'm surprised, despite them pouring money into the 4xe and plug-in hybrid. With the Fiat 500e coming back into production/importation, I guess it makes sense. With how many recalls are out at current for EVs and hybrids from the bug three, I'm not holding my breath this will be any better.

 

We've all been distracted by something when outside our vehicles, these days it's most likely a "smart phone" or similar device would be the cause though. Any degree of hearing loss such as a common cold might be enough to affect a person's ability to hear an EV traveling in a pedestrian area. Think of kids darting out into the street chasing something and the idea of an audible warning makes a lot of sense.

 

I don't know that recalls have had much to do with hybrid or electric technology. Lots of ICE-powered vehicles have been having fire recalls lately, and the recent one for the Chevy Bolt had to do with seatbelt pretentioners. Toyota had that embarrassing recall for wheels falling off their awful bZ4x, but nobody should buy those to begin with.

Other than GM's massive recall because of defective LG batteries on the Bolt, which EV/hybrids have been recalled?