Simulated noise has to be there for others' safety. At low speeds the electric cars are pretty much silent so pedestrians and such need a noise tp indicate there is a vehicle nearby. We all know how inattentive drivers are. And making inatentive drivers drive silent cars around pedestrians is a recipe for disaster.
this post was submitted on 21 Feb 2026
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ich_iel but American
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And the noises the electric cars make are way less jarring and annoying than a V8 revving at the stoplight or accelerating hard from 0 to 20mph as fast as possible
Yeah even blasting at full volume outs is like asoft humming that is just loud enough to alert you to the presence of the car without being loud.
The main reason electric cars have speakers is for pedestrians. Unfortunately, many drivers are inattentive or drive too fast in areas like neighborhoods, parking lots, and urban areas, and the noise helps warn pedestrians to their presence. Hopefully, we can reduce car reliance with walkable areas and public transit, but even so, electric cars will be driving near pedestrians at some point. The fake noise is silly, but it is necessary. A lot of cars go for an electric whine instead of simulated engine noise, and I find that more appealing.
In the US at least, it seems like they have settled on a sort of sci-fi hovercraft whirring sound that modulates in pitch a bit so that it captures your attention, but is pretty inaudible from more than a few carlengths away. Honestly pretty similar the noise level of an idling modern ICE.
It seems to fit the bill of being recognizable without being obtrusive.
I would guess that makes (especially high end) are going to quickly find their own signature sound, which sounds a bit obnoxious, but inevitable.
It should be at a frequency that doesn't penetrate very far through walls and windows, to protect the hearing health of people indoors.
would dig deep if i ever had to own one and get the sound changed … “leeeeeeeeeroy” on accel until speed and then “jeeeeennnnnkins” when decel till stop.
That's a cool idea, and I'm pretty sure it's possible too. There would be some fancy math, the car would have to calculate the Doppler shift both ahead and behind it, then intersplice the two audio signals such that they destructively interfere. Now, with the addition of Doppler shifting, I would think that you could broadcast the signal so that when the waves are clumped, they shift into audible range, and when they are separated, they shift into a separate audible range.
After having typed this out, I'm pretty sure this doesn't work but I'm not sure why
