Photo: Daimler AG
During the previous major automotive advancement, such as switching from horse-drawn carts to automobiles, there wasn't a movement towards fitting cars with fake equestrian sounds so that people wouldn't be run over when crossing the street.
Now that electric cars have started to pour in on most markets (not really, but there are much more models than before, ed), there has been an increase in the need for them to be equipped with systems that create artificial noises.
This is happening mainly because electric vehicles are much more quiet, to the point of being silent at low speed, which becomes a hazard for pedestrians.
The problem is even worse in crowded cities, where there's a bigger chance for electric cars to congregate with pedestrians in a not very friendly way.
Many car manufacturers have started fitting artificial noise-making machines to their electric models, with Daimler AG having an entire powertrain acoustics department, where 250 people are working round the clock to hone the way Mercedes-Benz and smart cars sound, whether they are running on electricity or not.
The smart fortwo electric drive or the upcoming Mercedes-Benz B-Class Electric Drive, for example, each have an onboard sound generator which provides a sonorous purring that's pitched slightly higher than the more guttural sounds that can be heard from an SLS AMG Electric Drive.
Story via Automotive News
This is happening mainly because electric vehicles are much more quiet, to the point of being silent at low speed, which becomes a hazard for pedestrians.
The problem is even worse in crowded cities, where there's a bigger chance for electric cars to congregate with pedestrians in a not very friendly way.
Many car manufacturers have started fitting artificial noise-making machines to their electric models, with Daimler AG having an entire powertrain acoustics department, where 250 people are working round the clock to hone the way Mercedes-Benz and smart cars sound, whether they are running on electricity or not.
The smart fortwo electric drive or the upcoming Mercedes-Benz B-Class Electric Drive, for example, each have an onboard sound generator which provides a sonorous purring that's pitched slightly higher than the more guttural sounds that can be heard from an SLS AMG Electric Drive.
Story via Automotive News
Google News