🔇🚶♂️ #QuietRevolutionEVs: Silencing the Noise Myth!
🤫 Myth: The whisper-quiet nature of EVs is often flagged as a pedestrian hazard, with concerns that their silence on the streets poses risks.
🚗 Fact: While it’s true that EVs glide rather quietly compared to their internal combustion engine (ICE) counterparts, the industry has innovated to ensure this silence doesn’t compromise safety. Let’s amplify the truth:
🔊 Safety in Silence:
▪ Recognising the need to alert pedestrians, especially those who are visually impaired, EV manufacturers have integrated sound systems that activate at low speeds. These artificial noises are designed to alert pedestrians of an approaching vehicle, balancing silence with safety.
Regulations in many parts of the world now require these acoustic vehicle alerting systems (AVAS), ensuring EVs make enough noise to be detected without disrupting the peace.
🌱 A Quieter, Cleaner Drive:
▪ Beyond safety features, the inherent quietness of EVs contributes to noise pollution reduction, creating more peaceful urban environments. It’s a win-win for city dwellers and nature lovers alike, reducing noise pollution while also cutting down on air pollutants.
The serene driving experience offered by EVs is one of their most lauded attributes, providing a calm and peaceful journey for drivers and passengers.
📣 Tech-Enabled Alerts:
▪ Far from being a simple beep, the sound systems in modern EVs can be quite sophisticated, mimicking engine sounds or generating unique tones that are pleasant yet effective at alerting pedestrians.
These sounds often fade into the background at higher speeds, where tyre and wind noise become more audible, ensuring the vehicle's presence is known without unnecessary noise at speeds where it's naturally generated.
🛣️ Forward-Thinking Safety:
▪ As EV technology continues to evolve, so too does the approach to safety and sound. Innovations continue to emerge, from directional sound that targets pedestrians without bothering others to smart systems that adjust volume based on environmental noise levels.
The narrative that EVs are too silent is being rewritten with every advance in vehicle sound technology. In the shift towards electric, we’re not just moving towards a greener future but a safer and quieter one as well.
