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An update on "vroom tones" for electric cars

By Rain Noe - June 18, 2010

in Tech

Last year we wrote about electric car manufacturers consulting with Hollywood to design fake engine sounds for the otherwise silent cars. A degree of noise is deemed necessary for pedestrian safety, particularly since these days more people seem to be crossing the street with their eyes glued to their cell phone text messages. Not to mention blind pedestrians, for whom sound is the only warning that a vehicle is approaching.

We had hoped this would usher in an innovative era of Priuses that sound like TIE Fighters and Honda Insights that sound like a herd of galloping horses, but alas, it seems early efforts have been bobbled. The Times reports that blind advocates are well disappointed with Nissan's Approaching Vehicle Sound for Pedestrians for their Leaf car, because it was inexplicably designed with an on-off switch, meaning a driver can willfully disable the safety feature.

As for the noises themselves, we find the choices slightly puzzling and less fun than we'd imagined:

To hear the engine noise, click here.

To hear the backup noise, click here.

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yamaha raptor 250r

14 years ago

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nice. I want to see those cars and hear the big sound.
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shane

15 years ago

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i want to hear one thats a voice recording of chuck norris making engine noises.
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Jackson

15 years ago

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Dieter Rams is poking his eardrums out right now. Throw in some fake engine blowouts once in a while too just for kicks?
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Derek

15 years ago

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I would opt for the Millenium Falcon and the tractor beam for backn' up.
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Jerry

15 years ago

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I wrote a haiku about this very topic for my favorite electric car, the Tango:

http://s3images.coroflot.com/user_files/individual_files/119474_6ockQ4FqJ809gVpuFJ2g3srz_.jpg

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stokessd

15 years ago

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For the love of god, do not ask Michael Bay...

That sort of thing WILL have an on-off switch for the technically savvy.
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