The Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers (AAM) sent a message to the NHTSA (National Highway Traffic Safety Administration), telling them that they are concerned about the electric vehicles that could scare pedestrians with their mandatory artificial noises imposed by law.
In case you don’t see the point, NHTSA declared some time ago that, for safety reasons, all EVs should emit artificial noises for people to be aware of their presence around.
AAM said that the cars should emit pleasant sounds, as this is vital to consumer acceptance. Another idea they suggested was that cars belonging to the same brand and model should emit the same sounds. In respond, NHTSA boss David Strickland said he understands their need to make cars sound different but he added that they "need to avoid opening a Pandora’s box of sounds that would allow too many options, such as individual ‘ring tones’ for every vehicle on the road.”
Automakers want to postpone the deadline up to 2018, as the cars would need to be redesigned in order to accommodate the artificial sound emitting systems.
One example of these bizarre artificial noises can be heard in the videos bellow, as Nissan presents their approach on this matter.
Google News