Skip to main content

Fake engine sound makes EVs safer, fun to drive

Forthcoming legislation in the USA, EU and Japan will require that all electric vehicles emit an alert sound at lower speeds in an effort to prevent the increasing number of accidents where pedestrians are hit by silent electric vehicles.
September 10, 2013 Read time: 1 min
Forthcoming legislation in the USA, EU and Japan will require that all electric vehicles emit an alert sound at lower speeds in an effort to prevent the increasing number of accidents where pedestrians are hit by silent electric vehicles.

Swedish company 7478 SoundRacer has developed EValert, an electronic engine sound product, to give a realistic sound indicating if the vehicle is idling, accelerating, decelerating or cruising. The different sound characters and sound volume are determined from information about the actual speed of the vehicle.

Says Kenneth Palmestål of SoundRacer: "SoundRacer is to our knowledge the only developer of EValert sound systems that use real engine sounds. After studying several reports we are convinced that real engine sounds will be less disturbing and have better alerting effect than other sounds.”

The company has developed two versions of the device; the acoustic vehicle alerting system (AVAS) which enables electric vehicles to meet the coming legislation; and  one which provides real engine sounds  and even lets the driver change from the sound of a Ferrari V12 to a Mustang V8 with the press of a button.

Related Content

  • June 29, 2016
    Are truck bans the wrong move in the battle for air quality
    Low emission zones and heavy goods vehicles’ access to city centres may at first glance appear attractive but how effective are such controls? Jon Masters reviews emerging trends across Europe. Around 1,700 European cities have implemented low emission zones (LEZs) and in addition some have restricted city centre access for heavy goods vehicles (HGVs). Even those that restrict HGV access, such as Paris and Rome, allow exemptions at certain times and for particular classes of vehicle. But with what effect?
  • May 4, 2021
    Canada tells EVs: 'Make some noise!'
    Government plans would mean hybrids and electric vehicles have to use sound emitters
  • March 3, 2021
    Connected mobility: top five solutions
    Joseph Jackson Ngo Hong of Robert Bosch offers thoughts on the future of connected mobility
  • February 2, 2012
    US enforcement regulation to deliver clearer guidelines?
    Jim Tuton of American Traffic Solutions looks at the evolution of automated enforcement in North America "Technological regulation will become more sophisticated at the federal level, giving states clearer guidelines" Jim Tuton In just 20 years, photo enforcement in North America has grown from a single speed camera in a small town in Arizona to thousands of photo traffic enforcement cameras which are now operating in 350 communities spread across 27 states and three Canadian provinces. Most of these p