Lotus makes electric cars noisier

[Earthling]

Let's see, what engine sound do I want for my Prius?

V-8 with glass-packs?
Harley with straight pipes?
Formula One race car?
Lamborghini twin turbo?
Bicycle with baseball cards in spokes?

I think I want one of those old Army trucks, with the big diesel engine and turbo whine, yeah, that'll do it.

We do get a choice, right? We can download ringtones for our Prius; how cool. We can add a bigger amp and jack up the volume. Let 'er rip!


Harry

[WriConsult]

The relentless dissing of this idea on this website just goes to show how little time Americans spend OUT of their cars getting around on foot. Try walking an hour a day on public streets for a week. With earplugs in or headphones blasting music so you can't hear what's going on around you. Then come back and talk.

"You should be looking both ways" is a gross oversimplification. That's true, but you can only look one way at any given moment and being able to receive auditory information about ALL vehicles moving in ALL directions at ALL times is a critical part of getting around in complex traffic situations. That goes for busy urban environments, high speed suburban areas with generally POOR pedestrian facilities where you're risking your life simply being out there, and also busy parking lots.

Actually, parking lots are where I've already seen a number of close calls between peds and Prii driven in EV mode. Sightlines are poor, drivers are usually watching out for other cars and often competing for spots, and speeds are low enough that EV mode is often in use, and peds are mingling with the cars. My local grocery store parking lot is ALWAYS crowded and competitive (with several hybrids in the parking lot at any given time), lots of peds and bikes going every which way and tons of potential for conflict. With tons of blind spots in the parking lot, not being able to hear some cars coming is a real detriment, and like I said I've already seen several close calls. I think both the ped and the driver learned something from each of these experiences, but the conflict would have been avoided entirely.

As for the noise pollution concern: oh, come on! I don't think requiring a car to make a minimal amount of sound is a significant contribution to noise pollution. I agree that noise pollution is ridiculous a lot of places - and this will NOT be contributing to it! WTF?!

What's wrong with requiring that a 3000 pound deadly weapon make a modest announcement of its presence when it's barreling through a neighborhood at 30 mph? For all the efforts we are making to reduce fuel usage -- which inherently means encouraging other modes of getting around -- you'd think the perspective of this website's membership would be a little more respectful of that. Cars do not have exclusive ownership of the road. Pedestrians are not intruders who need to get out the almighty automobile's way at all times. Pedestrians of course do need to respect the law, and even to walk defensively even when they do have the right of way. And being able to pick up auditory cues is part of that.

[JusBringIt]

the wheels on a moving car makes a lot more noise than the engine..unless you drive something prehistoric. When cars pass my house going anywhere btw 20-40mph, I can hear their tires a lot more than I hear their engine..and most times its not the engine, it's the exhaust that's making noise...like the riced kind.

If it works, don't try to fix it. that' sjust going to include additional weight we're trying to get rid of.

[xcel]

Hi Dan:

___How much quieter is a BEV or a Prius while running in EV as a “name any car here” when in fuel cut during deceleration? This is what raises my warning flags. This is a movement going after HEV’s, FCV’s and BEV’s when in fact all vehicles are “DEADLY” silent when coasting down nowadays. Ever stand next to a Lexus LS or Acura RL when its running? You cannot hear them either.

___Another issue I have with this is how many lives is it going to save vs. the costs involved. It is one thing to go after the first 80% for pedestrian safety but going after that last 20% is where the big bucks are. Those bucks are going to cost you and every person that purchases a car in the future a clean $50 more than likely to save the one person it may save in the next three years. I hate to place a price tag on a life because of our moral upbringing but there are more deaths in an hour due to speeding than there are from hybrids taking out blind people over the entire history of the Hybrid automobile.

___Good Luck

___Wayne

[JusBringIt]

Like I said before, If you can't fly, don't jump out of an airplane without proper equipment.

If I'm blind, the road is the last place I wanna be in. I'll get some assistance to get where I need to go. Regardless of how noisy a vehicle is...there are still fatal pedestrian accidents and just as it had been mentioned before, the inattentiveness of the drivers or pedestrians is what the problem is. Get a seeing Eye dog, if you're gonna get hit, it doesnt matter whether or not the car is alerting you, if its coming that fast you'll hear the tires on the road.

[bnther]

This is amazing. Don't the 'experts' have bigger things to worry about.

With regards to blind people, I can see their point. That being said, there isn't a Prius made that can sneak up on a dog.

I think people talking on their cellphones while driving is a MUCH bigger risk to pedestrians. Let's attack that problem.

[fuzzy]

bnther : ... I think people talking on their cellphones while driving is a MUCH bigger risk to pedestrians. Let's attack that problem.
--------------

Cell phones are bad with just about all forms of locomotion. We've all heard of drivers crashing while phoning. An area pedestrian was killed by a freight train when she didn't hear it's horn over her cell phone. While driving support car for a bicycle event, I had to transport a collateral victim (mechanical damage) of a phoning-while-biking crash. Another victim had already been transported to a hospital, while the offender continuing riding uninjured. While pedaling myself, I was almost T-boned by a biker on a phone, who was not only unapologetic but even insulted my wife for being "rude" enough to interrupt the call. Skaters on cell phones have displayed the same serious lack of situational awareness, but I haven't seen one of them crash. Yet.

[WriConsult]

Originally Posted by JusBringIt

If I'm blind, the road is the last place I wanna be in. I'll get some assistance to get where I need to go.

What are you gonna do, teleport across the street? You have to be IN the street to CROSS the street. What, hire an assistant to walk you to and from work (yes, many blind people work) in the morning and evening? Not everyone can afford or deal with a dog either. Living in the city, I see a fair number of blind people. Downtown and in residential areas, as well as on the train. Mostly with canes, not seeing eye dogs. Saw a young blind guy crossing the street this morning downtown, using his cane to cross the street.

Downtown he probably doesn't probably have to worry about hearing the cars, because speeds are low and the overall sound level is low enough that he can probably hear the tires. But on busier 30-40mph streets silent cars could really be a problem.

I just saw a guy blast through a stoplight at 25 mph the other day. I chased him down, and he didn't even realize he had one it. Let's not forget -- and most of us know this -- a lot of drivers today are plain and simply checked out. No idea what they're doing. I'd like the blind (and my young child, once he's old enough to go out on his own) to be able to hear the idiots coming.

I would disagree with statements that tires make more noise. Maybe at highway speeds. Not so much at the 20-30mph speeds on smaller streets where pedestrians often get hit, and DEFINITELY not in parking lots where I see all the close calls. Again, get out of your car and walk. Try crossing a few streets. Cruising along at 30 mph, even a luxury car makes more noise from its engine than it does from the tires.

C'mon guys, the cost of putting a little speaker under the hood is like 2 bucks. About 5 parts from Radio Shack and you're done. Probably simpler even, because it's likely just a little extra logic added to the same brain that controls the lights-on and door-ajar alarms. Only extra hardware would be the actual speaker itself.

[MissileStick]

Noise pollution isn't just a human annoyance issue, it's an ecological issue too.

Krause's argument is simple. In a biophony, animals divide up the acoustic spectrum so they don't interfere with one another's voices. He shows me a spectrogram of a wilderness recording, in which all the component noises are mapped according to pitch. It looks like the musical score for an orchestra, with each instrument in its place. No two species are using the same frequency. "That's part of how they coexist so well," Krause says. When they issue mating calls or all-important warning cries, they aren't masked by the noises of other animals.

But what happens when man-made noise — anthrophony, as Krause dubs it — intrudes on the natural symphony? Maybe it's the low rumble of nearby construction or the high whine of a turboprop. Either way, it interferes with a segment of the spectrum already in use, and suddenly some animal can't make itself heard. The information flow in the jungle is compromised.

If people aren't paying attention, let's address the problem of people not paying attention.

Trust me, as a cyclist primarily, I'm the last person who would oppose this without good reason. Show me the figures on how many accidents have been caused by silent vehicles. Let's do the cost-benefit analysis here. Let's remember that once this legislation is passed, politically it would never be repealed, even if blindness is cured and pedestrians prove capable of adjusting. Just because Lotus wants to make a buck does not mean new regulations are in order.

[donee]

Hi All,

This has been hashed out at Prius Chat. Walk along a street with cars going more than 10 mph. What do you hearing coming? Tires, and that is it. Unless its a Harley, or somebody with a broken, or modified muffler. The Prius is a car with tires. It makes the same noise as anything else ahead of it. What it does not do is make as much noise proceeding away, making it easier for the blind to hear cars coming from the direction of the receeding Prius.

An analysis of pedestrian - vehicle accidents were made, and it found the Prius was similar, or a little less than other cars in being involved in pedestrian impacts. The biggest offenders were pickup trucks and SUV's. These things really need some sort of back-up warning, and mandatory reverse cameras (like many Prius have).