AutoblogGreen

I thought a major complaint about low-rolling-resistance tires was that they made more noise rather than less...

Reply

The most sensible, lowest cost solution could be to find the speed at which a given car's tires may be heard when the car is under electric only mode (in the case of a hybrid), ensure that new hybrid and fuel cell cars run their air conditioning condensor fans at speeds below that figure.

My 2005 Prius is nearly silent in electric mode; however, being I'm aware of this, I actually watch more carefully for pedestrians, bicyclists, and the blind. However, when the cooling or a/c fan(s) are on, the noise is just as loud as the same components on a conventional car - and incongruent to passers by who hear nothing then suddenly get a cacaphony of loud fan noise! It's a bit odd, but we'll get used to it.

Our grandparents and great-grandparents got used to "put-put" compared to "clop-clop" after all.

Reply

We've had some discussion about engine noise -- or lack of same -- over on the Tesla Motors Club forums: http://teslamotorsclub.com/forum/index.php/topic,3.0.html

Nobody thought about how it would affect the blind, but there have been questions asked about the risk of running down sighted pedestrians with quiet vehicles. I've already heard anecdotes about an electric motorcycle and an electric forklift that proved surprisingly hazardous in operation.

I'm not sure that a simple clicker or beeper will do the trick, as they really don't provide the kind of auditory information that we're accustomed to getting from a revving engine. At the same time, a lot of owners will probably object to having obnoxious sound-makers attached to their cars and will disable them if they can.

My answer is that electric car drivers will have to be even more alert for pedestrians and learn to get on their horns a lot more than they have been. (Where I live people virtually never use their horns, and its considered practically an insult if you do.) In other words, I hope that people -- both drivers and pedestrians -- can adapt their behavior.

Reply

A small transducer on the exterior of the car could be configured to emit a low-level tone in the range of 400-1000 Hz (The range of 400-1000 Hz is typically the last to go in age-related hearing loss), or perhaps a uniquely-modulated tone that could be associated with electric vehicles. For instance, a 600/605 mix alternated once per second with a 700/707 mix to give a varying beat frequency that would be easily distinguishable from other background noise even at very low levels. That could be positioned and/or attentuated enough that the occupants of the vehicle would not be annoyed. Different modulation schemes could be used for the front and back of vehicles (switched when in reverse), giving the blind more position/movement information.

Reply

The "noisemaker" might work and also probably would use a little less energy than my idea, Howard Lee, but the added cost and noise pollution annoyance wouldn't fly, IMHO, because let's face it - well and truly under .1% of the population are blind - while we want to protect them, why should it cost $100 or whatever, extra per car when in reality, most of us never even pass a blind pedestrian in 20,000 miles a year of driving? I've driven for 30 years and cannot tell you I've driven by more than 1 person with a white cane in that time.

The electric fans are already on the cars.

Certainly, no "extra" noise is needed in our cities, and most certainly, no "clicking" noises.

Gave that up when I was 10 after wearing out playing cards and mom's clothes pins, by making noise-makers on my bicycle wheels. Don't want to go back there!

Reply

Wouldn't it make more sense to make adjustments to the crosswalks rather than making a car loud? Possibly a focused motion detector on the pole at the crosswalk that would emit a tone when it's supposed to be safe to walk but the cars haven't stopped? Simple to engineer and with a lower overall cost than putting "noisemakers" on Millions of cars...

(Merely a suggestion. I'm not up to par on how the blind function in everyday society.)

Reply

How about some sort of sonar / radar activated device which is held by the pedestrian? This would be useful regardless of location (crosswalks, parking lots, jaywalking...). The proliferation of cell phones, PDAs, GPS devices, etc, would seem to indicate that this is convenient enough for users.

Reply

I say leave it alone .... one less blind person on the streets ... hit em .. and sue there family for damages and emotional stress ... this is a win win situation for the govt and the people {1 less person on social security can be a good thing}

Reply

I wouldnt want a loved one of mine who is blind trying to navigate streets alone...

Reply

How about we cure blindness??

Reply

I remember in California, heavily populated with deer, you can buy a plastic thing that hooks into your radiator grill. The wind from the moving car makes the plastic thing whistle, allowing deer on the road ahead to get frightened of the oncoming noise and moving off the road. A similar attachment to electric vehicles would allow a dopplar effect for the blind to judge the distance and speed of oncoming cars...wouldn't it?

Reply

You really have got to be kidding me! If and I say if because in my 50,000 miles per year of dxriving I have seen one blind person attempting to cross the street. I knew he was blind because he had the trademark cane and dark glasses. I slowed down and if he had in the slightest made any indication of crossing the street I would have stopped and honked to oblige him. Now, I ask seriously, should we further punish by additional cost the Green Driver by adding irrelevant features? I mean give us all a break here. Fact < Hardly happens. Fact < Give me some credit for observation. Enough with the goody two shoes crapola.

Reply

Just attach a speaker to the front of the car, connect it by computer to on board diagnostics and you can recreate the engine sound in low speed situations. As speed increases beyond city limit speeds, it can then go back to silent running.

Reply

Wouldn't it make more sense to put grooves in the pavement before an intersection or stop. Than to make a wonderfully quiet car make noise. Aside from the blind predicament wasn't it another thing to make our cars less of problem in nature.The grooves could be set at certain distancesa at intervals so they would emit a rhythm from the cars as they pass over. PLus,now,all cars would be heard for sure hybrid or not.

Reply

I say instead of modifying a perfectly great feature about these cars put grooves in the pavement at staggered intervals on all intersections or stops. They would not only make a noise that the pedestrian could here but would remind drivers of an approaching intersection or stop.They already do it in some places to warn drivers they are too far to the right and to get back on the road.

Reply

As a middle aged person with normal sight and hearing, I had my first close encounter with an electric car (a new Prius) yesterday in a McDonald's parking lot. I was astonished at how silent it was; I had now idea it was near me until a got sight of it visually. My immediate reaction was that these cars present a real safety hazard to me and to other pedestrians, who for their entire lives walk in the vicinity of vehicles and depend in major part on soound cues rather than visual cues to avoid contact. This easy to foresee problem should have been solved by manufacturers before bring the cars to market. Vehicles which would otherwise be silent should be required by law or regulation to emit sound cues that are proportional to both speed and acceleration, as internal combustion engine vehicles do.

Reply

The idea of a quiet car is great. Except the reality is potentially dangerous. Not only for the hearing and seeing impaired, also for our children, our unsuspecting pets and our wildlife.
Unfortunately, I do not have a recommended suggestion. (yet!) I trust we are all thinking about how it could work for everyone.

Reply

Just a note about the blind. I am a college student, and on a daily basis on campus I see quite a few blind students, and maybe one of 5 have a seeing eye dog. Blind students can be found on almost every campus throughout the U.S. Considering student driving behavior, this actually may be a serious problem. Blind students wait at the crosswalks listening for the cars before crossing. Although stopping at crosswalks is mandatory at my campus, this does not mean people do so in practise. I personally like the suggestion of the fan noise.

Reply

A recent study in car and driver magazines showed that 98% of blind people are faking it just for the attention, I say that these fakers need to pay, with silent automobiles, explosive canes, and coyote seeing eye dogs. Lets hit 'em where it hurts, right between their lazy eyes.

Reply

ARE YOU KIDDING ME!?!? Is this really a newsworthy issue? I think blind people have a lot more to worry about than a car that makes no noise. I can't even believe that this is a top news story for AOL. Come on. Mike Magda, is there really NOTHING else in the entire world to write about? I would consider this relevent IF there was an increasing number of blind people getting hit by the cars, but there aren't even any examples or statistics here. Do us all a favor and if this issue is a that much of a concern to you please take a shotgun to your own face.

Reply