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NHTSA May Allow Carmakers to Include Whatever “Quiet Car” Sounds They Like

In addition to being less harmful to our planet, electric vehicles and hybrids are also quieter than their internal combustion counterparts. This is both a good and a bad thing.
U.S. carmakers may be allowed to choose a suite of alerts for their electric vehicles 29 photos
Photo: Rex Features / independent.co.uk
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The good thing is that they will obviously reduce noise pollution: the more EVs are on the road, the less the level of noise pollution. The bad thing is that you can’t really hear an EV or a hybrid crawling up to you at a lower speed, forward or backward, and this presents a serious danger to pedestrians, cyclists and the blind.

Consequently, in 2010, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) ruled that carmakers must incorporate artificial sounds into their cars, which would warn pedestrians and cyclists of their approach. The proposal was turned into law in 2018, with 2020 as deadline for most carmakers in the U.S.

The initial rule said that only sound for each car model year was allowed, but carmakers have petitioned the Administration with demands to incorporate a wider array, a suit of alert sounds. The NHTSA is now reaching out to the public to find out if they consider it safest for cars to have more alert sounds from which the driver can choose, in order to amend the law. They also wish to set an upper limit for the number of alerts on these “quiet cars.”

If the public is on the same page as carmakers, this means that carmakers in the U.S. will be able to incorporate whatever sounds they like into their vehicles, as long as they keep to the superior limit. These alerts will be in use when they’re traveling at speeds of up to 18.6 miles per hour (30 kph), both forward and in reverse. At higher speeds, it is considered that wind resistance, tire noise and other factors allow pedestrians to correctly identify an EV.

Comments are open through to November 1, after which the NHTSA will make its ruling.

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About the author: Elena Gorgan
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Elena has been writing for a living since 2006 and, as a journalist, she has put her double major in English and Spanish to good use. She covers automotive and mobility topics like cars and bicycles, and she always knows the shows worth watching on Netflix and friends.
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