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Electric Car Noise Required By Federal Motor Safety Act

Electric car noise is now a problem. Electric cars don’t make any noise. It is nearly silent when you have hybrid cars in electric mode at lower speeds. Silent, but deadly is what all these hybrid cars on the street are becoming. More pedestrians, especial blind ones, are getting hit. Congress has bounced around bills to require automakers to add noise to hybrid cars since 2008. Wednesday, automakers and advocates for the blind presented Congress with a proposal to build in noise for future electric cars as part of the Federal Motor Safety Act.

Article Source: Electric car noise to be mandated by Federal Motor Safety Act

Car noise must be heard by blind

Automobile safety is focusing on electric car noise right now. CNN Money.com reports that a study done last year by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) showed that hybrid cars hit pedestrians more often than other cars in many different places where the car coming cannot be seen. Blind pedestrians using a guide dog or cane need to be able to hear the sounds of traffic to cross streets safely according to the National Federation for the Blind. Also, everyone relies on the sound of cars to gauge how far away the car is.

More hybrid cars on the road

The electric car noise problem started in 2000 with the mass production of hybrid cars. A 2009 study, reported on topbits.com explained that drivers have used financing like secured loans to buy more than 1.6 million hybrids ever since then. In just 10 years, hybrid numbers went from a dozen to 1.6 million on the road. This considerable rate of growth is expected to accelerate as more automakers set out to create more hybrids. Total U.S. hybrid sales for April 2010, as reported by hybridcars.com, were 23,561 — a 1.2 percent increase from the month before, and an 8.4 percent increase from April 2009 from one year ago. 14 percent higher than last month are the sales of the Honda Insight

The Federal Motor Safety Act of 2010

Electric car noise advocates are the Association of International Automobile Manufacturers, The Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers, the American Council for the Blind and the National Federation for the Blind. The groups recommended language to Congress they would like to see included in the Motor Safety Act of 2010, a bill that is now moving through Congress and would update national auto safety rules. The need for electric car noise first emerged in the Pedestrian Safety Enhancement Act of 2008–only to become the Pedestrian Safety Enhancement Act of 2009. The electric car noise now appears to be gaining traction.

Car manufacturers of Hybrid making noise

Electric car noise is already being considered by leading hybrid car manufacturers. Nissan plans to get into the hybrid car market a step ahead of the competition when it comes to car noise. Bloomberg reports that three years ago Nissan told engineer Toshiyuki Tabata to re-create the sound of an engine. Tabata spent 20 years trying to make gasoline powered cars quieter. Now he is teaching composers how to make cars noisier.

The electric car noise art

To create the appropriate audio for electric car noise, Nissan consulted Japanese film score composers. Tabata and his team got the high-pitched futuristic sound reminiscent of the flying cars in “Blade Runner,” the 1982 science fiction film starring Harrison Ford portraying an android bounty hunter in a dark, dismal future Los Angeles. “We wanted something a bit different, something closer to the world of art,” Tabata said. The sound system is meant to activate when the car starts up and then to stop when the car is going faster than 12 miles per hour. When going faster than that, wind and tire noise should make the car detectable.

Electric car noisemakers regulation

Electric car noisemakers have been developed by car electronic manufacturers. Tokyo-based Datasystem Co. makes a device selling for $ 140 that emits 16 different sounds including a cat’s meow, a cartoon-like “boing” and a human voice saying, “Excuse me.” The language proposed by the electric car noise advocacy group would regulate these products. Their version of the bill would have the NHTSA create a new safety standard for hybrid cars establishing a minimum sound required at low speeds. Drivers couldn’t customize the sound of their cars the same way they download ringtones for cell phones. The set of sounds for a given make and model would need to be approved.

GM and their electric cars

One of the most anticipated electric cars is the Chevy Volt. GM’s electric cars have different technology than other hybrid systems. As reported on greencarreports.com, Chevy said the Volt will have a driver-controlled system that produces an “automotive quality sound” that pedestrians would instantly recognize, described as a series of low horn audio signals or cues. GM’s electric car can travel 40 miles on its battery. Instead of kicking in at a certain speed, the Volt’s 1.4 liter, 4-cylinder gas powered engine fires up when the battery is depleted. A generator that is linked to the engine creates electricity and powers the electric motor, extending the Volt’s range up to 300 miles.

Citations

CNN Money.com reports

http://money.cnn.com/2010/05/19/autos/electric_car_noise/?npt=NP1

hybrid car manufacturers

http://www.cardealexpert.com/news-information/auto-news/bmw-project-i-megacity-2013/

Bloomberg reports

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601109&sid=aIqaK2fByA.8

greencarreports.com

http://www.greencarreports.com/blog/1039019_2011-chevrolet-volt-pedestrian-alert-system-will-be-driver-controlled

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