3 ms·

Honestly, that sucks

• turbinerneiter 7y ago
  Why? * The "noise" will be a sound designed by sound specialists. * The designers will be smart enough to design sounds that increase safety without being needlessly loud. * Since the low frequencies of an ICE are not directional, a sound at higher frequencies (which is directional) is going to be an improvement. [edit: ICE frequencies are not as low as thought, so this point isn't too strong.] * The motor sound of an ICE is only the dominant noise component at low speeds. Most of the time, the noise of the wheel on the asphalt dominates. At high speeds, the aerodynamic noise becomes dominant. As a pedestrian and cyclist I'm quite happy to be able hear the 2 tons of battery that are coming up from behind. And the one person I know who drives a Tesla will also be happy about this. He had a close call with a cyclist once because the cyclist didn't hear him.
• onion2k 7y ago
  Here's a little thought experiment to test whether or not it's a bad idea. Imagine the noise is optional. As a driver you can turn it off. However, when the noise is switched off giant spikes pop out from the car's body that are guaranteed to kill anyone who gets in the way. Do you think it would ever be acceptable for someone to drive with the noise switched off?