Electric/Hydrogen Cars - How Should They Sound?

[Ikemi]

This researcher has some ideas, all rather horrible!

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-13417962

My colleague showed me this link and I instantly piped up with the usual PH response, 'a V8 soundtrack'. However it's going to sound awful through some piddly little speakers mounted to the front bumper, let alone the fact it'll sound silly when driving around in a G-Whiz type affair

So what do you think? Silent or loud? What soundtrack would you have?

[kambites]

I think they should make whatever noise they make. Adding artificial sounds strikes me as ludicrous.

[killsta]

kambites said:

I think they should make whatever noise they make. Adding artificial sounds strikes me as ludicrous.

It'll be like driving around in......



Just a lot less cool.

[BigS]

Like this http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QdWswvLPdE0

[thinfourth2]

They are going to make electric cars make noise which is frankly the worst idea in the world of motoring since the bean can exhaust.

You just know that this will be taken by people and played with.

This utter bd will be coming to a street near you

I don't want to hear bleeping, i don't want to hear fking warbling, wizzing or wooing and i really really don't want to hear that fking novelty ringtone fking frog going along the road.

I just want glorious silence.

When i buy an electric car the first thing i will do is to fit bullidiotbars and cut the wires to the noise maker

[/quote]

[Ikemi]

kambites said:

I think they should make whatever noise they make. Adding artificial sounds strikes me as ludicrous.

I agree. I believe the reason for adding artificial sounds is so that the electric car can be heard from a distance, in case you're walking/playing/skipping in the road!

[paranoid airbag]

kambites said:

I think they should make whatever noise they make. Adding artificial sounds strikes me as ludicrous.

+1. Screw the iPod zombies, and definitely screw any 'evocative' awful speaker noises. Half the reason we like v8 sounds anyway (if not all) is that we associate them with performance - sever that link and the noise is just embarassing. Apologies for anyone who thinks it's perfectly fine to step out into the road without looking but I'm sick and tired of people who do so in front of my bike and then act suprised because, if there's not an engine shouting at them, there must be nothing there

[killsta]

Ikemi said:

I agree. I believe the reason for adding artificial sounds is so that the electric car can be heard from a distance, in case you're walking/playing/skipping in the road!

No doubt there'll soon be a minimum dB level for new cars.

EU, get on it!

[Mr GrimNasty]

People will (have to) get used to looking before crossing! Can you imagine what it'll be like when the boy racers start modding these sounds? Whhhooop Whhhoooop Barff Barrrf Zing-diddy-zing-ling. Anyone living by a main round would be driven potty. Why on earth would you strive to create noise pollution when one of the benefits of electric cars is that they are quiet?

[grim_d]

killsta said:

It'll be like driving around in......



Just a lot less cool.

That looks like a 2-stroke Nitro car, so if electric cars sound like that, I'm in.

[killsta]

grim_d said:

That looks like a 2-stroke Nitro car, so if electric cars sound like that, I'm in.

It's not Nitro, it just makes Nitro sounds

[nick734]

HARMAN and Lotus Engineering have a Prius with V8 and V12 sounds, it can also sound like a spaceship...

there is a video of it here

http://www.vimeo.com/17597306

[Proxy]

BigS said:

Like this http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QdWswvLPdE0

This!
That would be brilliant!