REAL LIFE NEWS: ELECTRIC CARS WILL HAVE TO FAKE AN ENGINE NOISE
by Hazed
New rules have been formulated in the US to ensure that electric cars and hybrids which run silently will emit sounds. This measure is to help prevent injuries among pedestrians and cyclists.
Sounds will have to be added to all vehicles by September 2019, the US Transportation Department has said. They expect this to prevent 2,400 injuries a year.
The new rule will cost the auto industry about $39 million each year, because automakers such as Tesla, Nissan and Toyota will need to add an external speaker to the vehicles. What’s more, the speaker will have to be waterproof.
The noise will have to be emitted at speeds up to 18.6 miles per hour (30 kilometres an hour). Faster than that and the alert sound is not required because other factors such as tire and wind noise will be loud enough to serve as an adequate warning.
The rules set minimum sound requirements but do not specify what sounds the cars should make. Which opens up a range of possibilities. At the very least, what kind of motor noise do you want your car to make? You could have your car sound like a Lambourgini, or a Harley Davidson.
Or how about the “chuff-chuff” of a steam train? The chimes of an ice cream van. The sound of the TARDIS. The roaring of a dragon… oooh, the possibilities are endless!
Source: http://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-autos-regulations-idUSKBN13923M
