EV noises - I'm getting in to them

[Moonpie21]

A topic on EV noises has likely been started before and I must have missed it. However, recently I have been noticing that a number of topics end up with I don't like EV's for a number of reasons one of them being no visceral noise.

I don't necessarily disagree, they are never going to be like say a V8 or VTEC or any other sonorous/interesting ICE. I also don't have a problem if an element of that enjoyment in an ICE is now artificially piped in to the cabin to increase the experience. I do however object to Tesla creating the Boombox feature (OK now turned off?) to make a BEV sound like an ICE or anything it desires, that just seems antisocial and dishonest.

All of that aside though and the real reason I wanted to write is that I had a fantastic drive home last night in my I3s and a large part of it came from the sound. Something I have not credited with why I enjoy driving it before and wanted to share it to mitigate some of the negativity.

I will try to explain my joy a little bit more.

There is a short B road connecting two villages on my way home, it's pretty smooth with some lovely bends and various speed limits of 30 to 50mph and it never fails to put a smile on my face. It's not long, but I enjoy the relaxing nature of most the journey and then for this short stretch driving the road and listening to the motor. My journey to and from work might not exactly be the city driving the I3 was designed for but it does seem perfect for it (better than my previous cars anyway).

For the residential bits of the journey I like the low speed spaceship noise it makes up to about 20mph I don't find it offensive or too loud and it actually appeals to my inner geek, I find it quite relaxing. I'm not sure if it is the same sound for all EV's and I believe the I3 in the US suffers a louder noise for some reason, but the UK one I have seems entertainingly just right.

The real pleasure though is when the radio isn't on and that low speed noise tails off at around 18mph and it switches to pretty much silent... that's when I find myself having a little stab of the go pedal. At this point it makes a new noise which I assume is the electric motor making a quiet but identifiable whine that increases in pitch and I like it (milk float maybe, but connected to the speed and the dynamics of the car it's great).

Maybe it's just that bit of road.

I guess I wanted to know if I was alone in this or if other EV's have better soundproofing where you are robbed of the whine. Or maybe it is just a by product of the I3 being a smaller lighter EV that then enables the whine to add to my driving pleasure.

Maybe it's just me, but are there any other EV owners out there who regularly have moments where the noise of an EV contributes to the enjoyment of their journey?

[Boxbrownie]

Yes, we love the i3 makes under accel from low speed, it’s a lovely increasingly pitched whine……excellent.

Ours was just before the compulsory pedestrian warning noise, but sometimes in our very crowded Summer holiday seaside town I wish we had it, complete berks walking around thinking “I’m on holiday, there’ll be no cars on the road”

[Fastdruid]

While I do quite like the whine of an electric motor undoubtedly ICE has a far more visceral sound and is more varied.

Not to mention that on most modern cars they're so well isolated that you can't hear the "engine" anyway. Hence why they're piped into the cabin or faked.

[TheDeuce]

Fastdruid said:

While I do quite like the whine of an electric motor undoubtedly ICE has a far more visceral sound and is more varied.

Not to mention that on most modern cars they're so well isolated that you can't hear the "engine" anyway. Hence why they're piped into the cabin or faked.

Even on none piped/fake cars ICE cars, the sound is mostly exhaust and that's tuned to make certain noises too. The days of the sound of cylinders and induction have been largely lost due to most cars being turbo-charged.

I miss my Mk2 CRX vtec. That made a lovely noise between 5,800 - 8,400 rpm

However, times change and the 'spaceship' noises my iPace make inside and out do put a smile on my face. I would say that it feels faster as well as the cabin noise gains pitch and volume under hard acceleration.

[Fastdruid]

TheDeuce said:

Even on none piped/fake cars ICE cars, the sound is mostly exhaust and that's tuned to make certain noises too. The days of the sound of cylinders and induction have been largely lost due to most cars being turbo-charged.

TBH the loudest noise in mine with the windows closed is the turbo. If you open them you can hear the recirc valve on throttle lift and sometimes a muted pop-pop on the overrun. Barely hear the exhaust at all.

[Moonpie21]

TheDeuce said:

However, times change and the 'spaceship' noises my iPace make inside and out do put a smile on my face. I would say that it feels faster as well as the cabin noise gains pitch and volume under hard acceleration.

So can I be dumb and ask the spaceship noise in an iPace is that a planned sound effect or the motor? I ask because I put the iPace down as a lot more luxury than the I3 so would be surprised to hear any motor whine.

Not that I would be disappointed if it were motor whine, I think it should be quietly audible if you have the stereo off.

Totally agree on the feeling part of it with the little bit of instant torque shove too I just find it really entertaining.

[donkmeister]

I quite like the "spaceship whine" of some EVs. Perhaps straight-cut gears could be fitted where cogs reside between motor and wheel to add to the appeal... However I saw a video of an EV parts supplier showing how EV gear trains are sealed for life so it might not be an aftermarket job...

[TheDeuce]

Moonpie21 said:

TheDeuce said:

However, times change and the 'spaceship' noises my iPace make inside and out do put a smile on my face. I would say that it feels faster as well as the cabin noise gains pitch and volume under hard acceleration.

So can I be dumb and ask the spaceship noise in an iPace is that a planned sound effect or the motor? I ask because I put the iPace down as a lot more luxury than the I3 so would be surprised to hear any motor whine.

Not that I would be disappointed if it were motor whine, I think it should be quietly audible if you have the stereo off.

Totally agree on the feeling part of it with the little bit of instant torque shove too I just find it really entertaining.

Watch the video I posted earlier - the sound you hear is all artificial, piped through the speakers, but you can turn it off if you want to sit in quiet luxury

I have mine set so it only makes noise in 'dynamic' mode, other than that it's just the sound of the tyres/wind, which is also fairly well insulated from the cabin. You can hear the motor/drivetrain if you really listen but only just, it's quieter than either the EQC or Etron I tested before choosing the Jag.

In addition, like all new EV's, it makes an artificial sound outside the cabin for pedestrians to hear. It's quite clever stuff, it sort of 'hums' but the humming speeds up as the car starts to move, like rising the revs of an engine ahead of it moving - pedestrians pick up on that sort of noise change to signify imminent movement.

Here's a very short video that explains the exterior sound effects

[TheDeuce]

donkmeister said:

I quite like the "spaceship whine" of some EVs. Perhaps straight-cut gears could be fitted where cogs reside between motor and wheel to add to the appeal... However I saw a video of an EV parts supplier showing how EV gear trains are sealed for life so it might not be an aftermarket job...

Sealed for life, designed to last a very long time indeed! The problem with transmission whine is that it's basically the result of friction. Friction wastes energy and results in wear. Obviously energy wasting isn't good for EV's.. The boxes are sealed units simply because they can be. They're very basic compared to a traditional multi-speed transmission, to there is no likelihood of needing servicing at any point.

The motors are also sealed units. As is the battery pack on most EV's. That's why mine has a wading depth of over half a metre, at which point both the motors/gearboxes and the entire battery pack are all submerged.

Because the entire drivetrain is so much simpler than ICE all sorts of benefits exist. Mostly things are generally overlooked in the ICE vs EV debate, but actually are worthy of mention and represent a step forward.

[Pica-Pica]

I like the whine of an EV, but I miss the clink of the milk bottles.

[TheDeuce]

Pica-Pica said:

I like the whine of an EV, but I miss the clink of the milk bottles.

That's actually the most humorous comparison of an EV to a milk float I've heard so far

[ZesPak]

I always liked what Harley did with the LiveWire.
However, my neighbours' Taycan is probably louder than any other car he owns. Distractingly loud tbh.

I don't mind some noise, my early 2019 EV doesn't have any noise and in car parks you really need to pay extra attention as people (usually on their phone) are trying their hardest to get killed by you.

Edited by ZesPak on Friday 11th March 08:26

[S600BSB]

TheDeuce said:

Watch the video I posted earlier - the sound you hear is all artificial, piped through the speakers, but you can turn it off if you want to sit in quiet luxury

I have mine set so it only makes noise in 'dynamic' mode, other than that it's just the sound of the tyres/wind, which is also fairly well insulated from the cabin. You can hear the motor/drivetrain if you really listen but only just, it's quieter than either the EQC or Etron I tested before choosing the Jag.

In addition, like all new EV's, it makes an artificial sound outside the cabin for pedestrians to hear. It's quite clever stuff, it sort of 'hums' but the humming speeds up as the car starts to move, like rising the revs of an engine ahead of it moving - pedestrians pick up on that sort of noise change to signify imminent movement.

Here's a very short video that explains the exterior sound effects

Never touched the sound effects on my ipace. Will have to give it a go.

[JonnyVTEC]

Dynamic sounds in dynamic mode is borderline comedy the noise at high speed too.

[TheDeuce]

JonnyVTEC said:

Dynamic sounds in dynamic mode is borderline comedy the noise at high speed too.

Do you think it adds 'something'? It's all totally artificial but I think it adds a bit of drama to hear the car make go faster noises as I press on.

On the flip side, in normal mode I often glance down on a b-road and realise I'm taking sweeping corners at 80mph, it's so smooth and quiet, and stable.. it's very easy to do without fully intending to. The same can't be said if you're in an ICE stirring the gears with an engine pinned at 6500 rpm.

I doubt driver inactivity is a defence that would stand up in court though

EDIT: I see we've both owned a Teg, in terms of making a car go fast that's about as far as we could get from the iPace I suppose. I loved all my vtec cars but you definitely have to be on the job and deliberately make them go quick.

Edited by TheDeuce on Friday 11th March 14:20

Edited by TheDeuce on Friday 11th March 14:20

[JonnyVTEC]

Yeah I like it, good you have the choice. I wish it had an external sound like the Taycan though).

[jamesbilluk]

I used to love the sound the i8 made, internally, and externally too, in E mode,

The Panamera E Hybrid I have doesn’t seem to make any sound at all internally, maybe a distant whine. And no sound generator at all externally, which makes manoeuvring car parks, low speed driving hazardous! I usually have to pop engine on if anyone is wondering I front, or hasn’t noticed.

I have heard a some Taycans, and really like the spike they make to be honest

[LordFlathead]

You guys not heard of the Miltek exhaust for the Tesla Model 3?

https://youtu.be/HmDXE3o8dMc

https://www.millteksport.com/products/tesla.html

[off_again]

Fastdruid said:

While I do quite like the whine of an electric motor undoubtedly ICE has a far more visceral sound and is more varied.

Not to mention that on most modern cars they're so well isolated that you can't hear the "engine" anyway. Hence why they're piped into the cabin or faked.

With ever increasing sound controls here and more coming, this is only going to get worse. It allows OEM's to give the driver an impression of noise and speed all without actually having to break the rules. I get it, but was it really a problem? Someone dropping $80k on an M3 with the sports exhaust is still a pretty rare occurrence. Not sure that picking on these buyers and cars is actually going to make a bigger difference to the wider population.