Daimler Electrics Get Fake Vroom To Thwart Silent Threat: Cars

[smart142 605]

Bloomberg News

By Dorothee Tschampa December 30, 2013

Christoph Meier, a sound engineer at Mercedes-Benz parent Daimler AG (DAI), typically spends time making engine noise less jarring. For the carmaker’s new electric models, he’s had to do the opposite -- create sound.

For Daimler’s e-Smart city car, Meier and his team invented a “sonorous purring” that was pitched higher than conventional vehicles, while Mercedes’s 416,500-euro ($569,600) SLS AMG Coupe Electric Drive gets huskier tones to reflect its power.

“People expect some exterior noise from a vehicle, because we all grew up with the ‘vroom vroom’ of combustion engines,” said Meier, who oversees 250 people as head of powertrain acoustics at the Stuttgart, Germany-based company.

Daimler isn’t alone in adding noise to electric cars. Renault SA (RNO) offers a choice of car tones -- pure, glam and sport -- on the Zoe hatchback, while Nissan Motor Co. (7201)’s Leaf, the best-selling electric car, also comes with artificial sound. The issue has become more critical to carmakers as regulators look to require warning noises as soon as next year, while the rollout of more and more models forces manufacturers to seek ways to stand out.

Synthetic motor noise, like the jangly, high-pitched whir of Renault’s glam track, could save lives and at the same time protect investments in electric cars. The vehicles emit almost no sound at low speeds, making them a potential silent threat for cyclists and pedestrians used to reacting to the rumble of engines. With electric cars already struggling to gain popularity, a spate of accidents could further damp demand.

Not Looking

“If a silent electric vehicle knocks over an elderly person or a child, it’s not worth the risk,” said Neil King, an analyst with Euromonitor in London. “It happens often enough in urban areas that people are stepping into the road without looking. You can’t get around that.”

Although no data yet exists on injuries caused by electric vehicles, the European Union takes the threat seriously enough to propose legislation making acoustic warning sounds mandatory, and worldwide guidelines are expected in early 2014, according to German auto association VDA.

Blind and visually impaired people, who rely on acoustic cues to navigate through city streets, could be most at risk.

Blind Threat

Without noise, “we could step right in front of a vehicle and the driver would have no chance to brake in time,” said Gerhard Renzel, who’s blind and a traffic expert for the German association for the visually impaired DBSV. “What is important for us is that we don’t get killed in traffic.”

Electric vehicles are mainly silent at speeds less than 30 kilometers (19 miles) per hour. Then tire and wind noise kicks in. While adding motor sounds at slow speeds may help avoid accidents, it also undercuts one of the unique selling points of electric vehicles.

“One of the big competitive advantages of electric vehicles is their soundlessness,” said Stefan Bratzel, director of the Center of Automotive Management at the University of Applied Sciences in Bergisch Gladbach, Germany. “It’s a justified goal to have quieter cities.”

Because of this, some carmakers are seeking to keep the din of electric vehicles to a minimum. Bayerische Motoren Werke AG (BMW) will add artificial sound to the i3 city car only where authorities demand it. Volkswagen AG (VOW) also isn’t planning to add sound to its e-Up! model unless required.

Directed Noise

Elon Musk, chief executive officer of Tesla Motors Inc. (TSLA:US), said in June that electric cars should direct “a pleasant-sounding noise” as a gentle warning to nearby people rather than be required to emit sound all the time.

Daimler, by contrast, sees sound as a safety feature. On the electric Smart, the engine tone is standard in the U.S. and Japan and an option in Europe. Unlike Renault, which equips its Zoe, Kangoo and Twizy electric models with sound, the German company doesn’t allow customers to shut off the noise manually.

Smart’s sound mimics the noise of a combustion engine by getting louder as the driver presses down on the pedal and higher as the car accelerates. The German automaker will equip electric Mercedes models -- including a variant of the B-Class, which hits U.S. showrooms next year -- with a similar system. Still, the real dilemma is finding the right tone.

“Simply imitating the sound of a combustion engine was not an option,” said Ralf Kunkel, head of acoustics at Audi, who developed a tone for the A3 E-tron plug-in hybrid, which debuts next year. “We discarded ideas of giving electric vehicles sounds such as birds twittering or leaves rustling.”

To contact the reporter on this story: Dorothee Tschampa in Frankfurt at dtschampa@bloomberg.net

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[leejor 3]

Daimler, by contrast, sees sound as a safety feature. On the electric Smart, the engine tone is standard in the U.S. and Japan and an option in Europe. Unlike Renault, which equips its Zoe, Kangoo and Twizy electric models with sound, the German company doesn’t allow customers to shut off the noise manually.Soooo. a pair of wire cutters (and insertion of a switch), or some duct tape won't bring silence (or at least a reduced level), if the owner insists?They must be used to dealing with people that do not do any modifications to their cars.

[Silver 8]

Twizy?What the heck were they smoking when they named that? Kangoo? Did they leave the door pouches off to save money?Zoe? Vat is next?

[Duck 16]

This is the stupidest thing ever. I hate it so much. If I ever get an EV, that's the first fuse I'm pulling.They should just put a fake tailpipe and a CO generator on the back, too, and be done with it. Way to forward-think...-Iain

[FlossyTheSmart 81]

When I was trying out another member's ED, the "sound generator" was pointed out to me. It's hardly an engine roar. Inside the car it sounded more like a slight whine. It wasn't particularly audible over the road noise. Don;t know how loud it is outside of the car, but it's certainly not as loud as an engine of any sort, and of course this only goes while you are moving. Keep in mind it would theoretically also help alert animals of your impending arrival, so you wouldn't be running over stupid crows and squirrels every day.

[Grumpyb 0]

I bought a number of Berlingo Electriques that were used for 8 years by a local authority for delivering hot meals to older people in a London Borough. Over the whole time thay had the vehicles in service they had no problems with the lack of noise or adverse comment from the public.This is a non issue, no one complains that Rolls Royce or Lexus make virtually no noise when they drive at urban speeds. A friend who has a Kangoo Electric recently hit a girl who stepped out between some parked cars, and thought he should add noise to his van. But the girl who apparently did not look before she stepped out, still had her earphones in when she was on the ground. So no matter how much noise he would have made, it would have made little difference.The next step will be to make all moving vehicles have a strobe light on the roof, so that the hard of hearing will see the car. This is all about perceived "Health and Safety" risks ie you have to assume the whole world is a fool so that if just one fool takes you to court you can claim you took steps to mitigate a problem. We live in a world that is so worried about being sued that we forget about personal responsibility. If you wear earphones and step out between cars you have a high risk of being hit by a passing vehicle. If you go near a road or a railway line large metal objects will hit you if you walk in front of them.Lotus in the UK managed to get some Government funding to come up with some solutions to this perceived problem. Great work if you can get it. I hope that legislation is not brought in to make this compulsory in the UK, if it is I will have the sound of horses hooves, or an uncorked V8 not sure which.I dont see Lexus trying to make their cars more noisy anytime soon.Grumpy-b

[MikeT 744]

All this crap makes me hate where new cars are going...