I’ve been listening to the streets recently. The sound of the quiet purr is upon us. Be it a futuristic noise, or just a classic “rev”, each sound that is emitted from the new wave of EVs has been delicately designed to sound “like a car” should, not how a car “needs to sound”.
I recently listened to an interview with Tim Ferriss and Derek Sivers about Derek’s latest trip to China, and to his astonishment, the silence of an inner city – where the majority of drivers are now driving EVs that don’t have engine noise. What a shift.
That got me thinking about the noise they produce. I mean, they don’t actually produce ANY noise from their battery – apart from the turning of the drivetrain and the aircon or stereo.
I found a cool Vox video about people at car companies that actually design the sound that the cars make and think what is should sound like. Due to the sheer lack of noise and the need for pedestrians, other road users and others needing to hear a car coming – they have a complex way of making the sound that the “engine” produces to adhere to specific laws and rules – the Acoustic Vehicle Alerting Systems (AVAS). Alerting people of a vehicle’s presence, without it being overly disruptive.
A fascinating take on this next step in our transport evolution – but one that I think should probably be customisable by the user at some point – I mean you buy it, you enjoy it, eh? Watch it below.