Whereas making an electric motor produce a sound other than the indistinguishable "hummm" or "buzz" is not such an easy feat, manufacturers had to turn to sound generating technologies which are not correlated with the car itself.
Lotus for instance, together with Harman International, developed what they call Halosonic, an active noise technology developed to make the car hearable in its surroundings. Thing is, creating a sound generating device which has nothing to do with the car itself means you can make a Prius, for instance, sound like anything you want, from a muscle V12 to Enterprise's warp engines.
And that's what Lotus did, opening the doors for all hell to break loose. Their device now offers several sounds for EVs and hybrids, including V8 sound, V12 sound and one too many futuristic sounds. Now, don't get us wrong, their endeavor is admirable and, to be honest, the sounds...sound great (except for the annoying futuristic ones). But...
Having no connection whatsoever with the car's engine, the device can only be controlled as much. You will hear, towards the end of the below video (courtesy of PistonHeads), the amazing roar of a V12 engine, as it spins at its upper revs...At the same time, you will see the Prius cruising at a very low speed...Not quite a match made in Heaven, is it?
Be it as it may, this is the future, so you'd better get used to it. We are sure there will be plenty of you out there who will go for it and try to trick their friends into believing the Prius in the front of the house is in fact a Camaro in disguise.
What we are looking forward too is sound generating technologies which will use voice instead sounds. Imagine the car saying "Make way, Prius coming thru," or "Move b***h, get out the way," or "Hi, hon, need a ride to my place?" (repeating several times before switching to "Your loss!").
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