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Purple Wrap Tesla Model 3 Makes V8 Rumble Sound, Still No Gases

Listing the quiet nature of an electric powertrain as one of its key benefits is getting tiresome by now as there probably isn't a person on the planet who's not aware of it.
Tesla Model 3 V8 sounds 1 photo
Photo: YouTube screenshot
You've either read about it or you found out the hard way by having an EV creep up behind you in complete silence and spook you half to death. Well, that last part has been taken care of now since EVs are required to emit low-level noises when they're moving at lower speeds (assuming the tire noise will make up for that once they go over a certain speed threshold).

Well, you've probably also heard the flip side: a large percent of the market finds EVs undesirable precisely for this lack of engine and exhaust noise. "If it doesn't go vroom, vroom, I'm not interested." I would imagine back toward the end of the 19th century, people were saying similar things: "If it doesn't go poop, I'm not interested." And look where we are now.

But, since there's plenty of these people and they too have money to spend, there is now a solution available to them. A company called Milltek is making a device called an Active Sound Generator Retro-Fit, and they can be mounted on any of the four available Tesla models (alright, Elon, I'll say it: S3XY. Happy?).

Sound modulation is nothing new. Ever since carmakers were forced into downsizing their engines, a bit of pizazz was lost together with the reduced number of cylinders and cubic inches. Fearing complaints from hardcore customers, companies such as BMW or Porsche (but other more mundane brands such as Renault are also guilty of it) started feeding fake engine noises into the cabin via the sound system. These, however, were confined to the inside of the vehicle.

Milltek's contraption sits underneath the rear end of the vehicle, right where the exhaust's muffler would have been situated. Hell, it even looks like a muffler, so assuming you're willing to drill your diffuser, you'll make people who know it's a Tesla but don't know about Militek's Active Sound Generator Retro-Fit all the more confused.

The guy in this video (YouTube user SneakerheadinthebayVlogs) didn't do it, which would hint at him thinking about removing it some time, but after seeing how excited he gets, who's to say? After all, the thing does simulate those lift-off crackles too, and there's not one person on the planet who isn't madly in love with those. Check out the video below for a sample. The Tesla bit starts at around the 5:45 mark.

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About the author: Vlad Mitrache
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"Boy meets car, boy loves car, boy gets journalism degree and starts job writing and editing at a car magazine" - 5/5. (Vlad Mitrache if he was a movie)
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