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Mandated By Federal Motor Safety Act Is Electric Car Noise

Electric car noise is now a problem. Electric cars don’t make any noise. Hybrid cars in electric mode traveling slowly is almost completely quiet. All of these hybrid cars on the street are silent but deadly. More pedestrians, especial blind ones, are getting hit. Bills to require automakers to add noise to hybrid cars have bounced around Congress since 2008. Wednesday, automakers and advocates for the blind presented Congress with a proposal to build in noise for future electric cars as part of the Federal Motor Safety Act.

Source for this article: Electric car noise to be mandated by Federal Motor Safety Act

Blind have to be able to hear car noise

Electric car noise is moving to the forefront of automobile safety. CNN Money.com reports that a study done last year by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) showed that hybrid cars hit pedestrians more often than other cars in many different places where the car coming cannot be seen. According to the National Federation for the Blind, blind people need to be able to safely cross the street with a guide dog or cane and by hearing the sounds of traffic. Also, the distance and speed of oncoming cars is figured out by the sound for everyone.

More hybrid cars hitting the road

When mass production of hybrid cars began in 2000, the electric car noise problem began. A 2009 study, reported on topbits.com explained that drivers have used financing like secured loans to buy more than 1.6 million hybrids ever since then. The number of hybrids on the road grow from a dozen to more than 1.6 million in just 10 years. This considerable rate of growth is expected to accelerate as more automakers set out to create more hybrids. As reported by hybridcar.som, total U.S. hybrid sales for April 2010 were 23,561 — a 1.2 percent increase from the month before, and an 8.4 percent increase from April 2009 from one year ago. 14 percent higher than last month are the sales of the Honda Insight

The Federal Motor Safety Act

Electric car noise advocates include The Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers, the American Council for the Blind, the Association of International Automobile Manufacturers, and the National Federation for the Blind. The groups recommended language to Congress they would like to see included in the Motor Safety Act of 2010, a bill that is now moving through Congress and would update national auto safety rules. The need for electric car noise first emerged in the Pedestrian Safety Enhancement Act of 2008–only to become the Pedestrian Safety Enhancement Act of 2009. The electric car noise now appears to be gaining traction.

Car manufacturers of Hybrid making noise

Electric car noise is already something that is used by leading hybrid car manufacturers. Nissan plans to get into the hybrid car market a step ahead of the competition when it comes to car noise. Bloomberg reports that three years ago Nissan told engineer Toshiyuki Tabata to re-create the sound of an engine. Tabata spent 20 years trying to make gasoline powered cars quieter. Now he’s consulting music composers to make electric cars noisier — and safer.

The art of electric car noise

To create the appropriate audio for electric car noise, Nissan consulted Japanese film score composers. Tabata and his team cooked up a high-pitched futuristic sound reminiscent of the flying cars in “Blade Runner,” which is the 1982 science fiction film that stars Harrison Ford portraying an android bounty hunter in a dark, dismal future Los Angeles. “We wanted something a bit different, something closer to the world of art,” Tabata said. The sound system is meant to activate when the car starts up and then to stop when the car is going faster than 12 miles per hour. When going faster than that, wind and tire noise should make the car detectable.

Regulating electric car noisemakers

Many different car electronic manufacturers have developed car noisemakers. Tokyo-based Datasystem Co. makes a device selling for $ 140 that gives off 16 different sounds which includes a cat’s meow, a cartoon-like “boing” and a human voice saying, “Excuse me.” Of course these products have to be regulated. Their version of the bill would have the NHTSA create a new safety standard for all hybrid cars that would be establishing a minimum sound required at low speeds. Drivers would not be able to customize the sound of their cars the same way they download ringtones for cell phones. An approved sound or set of sounds would have to be approved.

GM electric cars

The Chevy Volt is one of the most anticipates electric cars. GM’s electric cars have different technology than other hybrid systems. As reported on greencarreports.com, Chevy said the Volt will be equipped with a driver-controlled system that would end up producing an “automotive quality sound” that pedestrians would instantly recognize, described as a series of low horn audio signals or cues. GM’s electric car can actually go 40 miles on batter. Instead of kicking in at a certain speed, the Volt’s 1.4 liter, 4-cylinder gas powered engine fires up when the battery is depleted. A generator that is linked to the engine creates electricity and powers the electric motor, extending the Volt’s range up to 300 miles.

Additional information at these websites

CNN Money.com reports

http://money.cnn.com/2010/05/19/autos/electric_car_noise/?npt=NP1

hybrid car manufacturers

http://www.cardealexpert.com/news-information/auto-news/bmw-project-i-megacity-2013/

Bloomberg reports

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601109&sid=aIqaK2fByA.8

greencarreports.com

http://www.greencarreports.com/blog/1039019_2011-chevrolet-volt-pedestrian-alert-system-will-be-driver-controlled

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