Hybrid Vehicles: It’s quiet out there, a little too quiet
- August 8th, 2008
- 11 Comments
We’ve all heard the whispers and murmurs regarding adding artificial noise to hybrid cars so that pedestrians don’t get hit and it appears that we’re heading in that direction for real. Lotus is working on artificial engine noise and there’s apparently even a $300 module you can add to your Toyota Prius to give it that throaty vroom-vroom sound it’s been missing.
This all begs the question: why engine noise? If we’re going to add artificial noise to hybrid cars, why can’t it be something that sounds less annoying than a car engine? I’m thinking something along the lines of a low hum or maybe the sound that all the space cars on the Jetsons made. There’d be a whole secondary market for personalized engine noise, kind of like ringtones for your car.
If you had a hybrid car and could add your own engine sound, what would it be?
Jon Erickson (Who am I?)
3 months ago
How about the jingle from the local ice cream truck, that will sure get peoples attention, or may be we can create a mobile advertising business where jingles are beamed down by satellite played by the hybrid cars.
Steve Jabs (Who am I?)
3 months ago
Don’t worry, all of the thug kids where I live will put in 50 inch subs anyways like they do now and you’ll be able to hear them coming from about a half mile away.
Sag (Who am I?)
3 months ago
I have a Prius and like it the way it is … SILENT
hawk88 (Who am I?)
3 months ago
It’s not the pedestrians fault they are getting hit, the car is at all times supposed to stop for pedestrians, silent or not.
jonathan (Who am I?)
3 months ago
How about the sound of a horse galloping? It could whiny and wheeze at stop lights.
jonathan (Who am I?)
3 months ago
How about the sound of a horse galloping? It could whiny and wheeze at stop lights.
Ted (Who am I?)
3 months ago
Hmmm how about a steam locomotive or a diesel locomotive.
Then those pesky pedestrians would here me a mile away.
Michael (Who am I?)
3 months ago
One word: Thundercougarfalconbird
shelbinator (Who am I?)
3 months ago
That’s not a horse, you’ve got two empty halves of coconuts and you’re bagin’ ‘em together.
Bob Wilson (Who am I?)
3 months ago
This nonsense, HR 5734, the “Bell the Hybrid Act” has been supported by Congress critters who haven’t realized that noise making cars already kill 4,700 pedestrians per year. This bill does nothing to improve safety, just drive up the cost of hybrids and ensures someday a blind pedestrian will hear their faux noise maker just before they die.
There was a hearing June 23 by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration and the submissions, including counter arguments can be found at: http://www.regulations.gov search: NHTSA-2008-0108-0020.
In reality, the problem is drivers need notification pre-school kids and the blind are in the area. This can be solved with a modified “panic” keyfob. Automatic, it would ‘bleep’ the horn and flash the lights to let the driver know hazardous pedestrians are in the area. Solve the problem, don’t legislate what is already failing.
JoeAverage (Who am I?)
1 month ago
How about some sort of wireless transmitter than can be picked up by a reciever that a blind person carries. They could make it directional so that the blind person knew which direction the car was coming from.
And it is still silent.
For that matter it could be fitted to the dog’s collar and the dog trained to wait until the nearly silent beeper on his collar stopped. A beeper on the left side of this collar for vehicles approaching from the left maybe.
Would be simple and cheap using modified bluetooth tech.