5 ms·
This. People always underestimate how much noise rolling resistance of tyres plays in the sound profile of traffic. Electric cars are worse under 50mph, basical
by pwatsonwailes 2y ago
This. People always underestimate how much noise rolling resistance of tyres plays in the sound profile of traffic. Electric cars are worse under 50mph, basically because they're heavier.
- bojan 2y agoElectric cars start and accelerate noiselessly - both very common activities in the inner city driving.
- Spivak 2y agoThe parent's point is that the engine isn't the largest contributor of noise. At low speeds the engine noise dominates, at "high" (meaning normal driving speeds) speeds the tire noise dominates. Go listen to a highway and see if you can hear the engines over the wooshing.
- Retric 2y agoCars in cities rarely travel quickly, spending lot’s of time stopped at traffic lights right where people cross the street or stuck in traffic. The squeal of a worn out brake pads is largely mitigated by regenerative breaks which increase brake lifespan.
- bobthepanda 2y agoThere are a lot of highways in American inner cities.
- Retric 2y agoThose are frequently Highways in name only. If people are doing 2-3 mph in stop and go traffic it might as well have stop lights. Thus the frequent use of bypasses so people on long trips can actually get someplace quickly even if the distance increases.
- throwaway173738 2y agoInterstate 5 in Seattle would like a word with you. The traffic noise on that road is paradoxically loudest when nobody is driving on it.
- Retric 2y agoIt’s 8PM on a Sunday, and it currently has some traffic issues. The only paradox is it seems louder when the rest of the city quiets down.
- piva00 2y agoAnother reason to limit inner city traffic to 30 km/h to 40 km/h :)
- DaoVeles 2y agoA bit of an aside on this. The last 30 years or so have been amazing for cutting down engine noise levels. In trying to squeeze out ever last drop of efficiency they have also reduced the noise levels. Nowadays the only times I really notice them is either when idling or something from before the 90's is driving past.
- the__alchemist 2y agoOn residential vehicles. Commercial vehicles are still a nuisance.
- 01HNNWZ0MV43FF 2y agoThe other day I noticed a queue of suspiciously quiet gas cars. One or two had start-stop systems. (Hybrids of course all implement start-stop, and after 20 years of wild success are still underrated)
- ChainOfFools 2y agoThis is the point that makes all of the miserable noise pollution from modified cars so much more grating, knowing that whatever is making excess noise means potentially useful (in a performance sense) power is escaping as sound somewhere in their drivetrain, so insofar as their objective is to make their vehicles loud for the sake of loud, these people are achieving the opposite of what they're trying to signal they're achieving.
- d3ad1ysp0rk 2y agoEfficiency and power are not equivalent. All you need to do is look at the most powerful (hp per liter) cars and the exhaust systems they use for proof.
- ChainOfFools 2y agoThe people were talking about are slapping shitty cat deleted straight pipe exhausts on what are typically engineered to be economy or family cars, or small displacement motorcycle engines. People who don't see the offensively selfish stupidity in tripling or quadrupling the noise output of their mode of transportation just to get an extra 10% power, if that. They're not running million dollar F1 cars around closed environments dedicated to the purpose.
- davemp 2y ago> Go listen to a highway and see if you can hear the engines over the wooshing. I regularly walk a trail ~0.5mi from a highway and the main sound I notice is from straight piped WRX-esque cars gunning it.
- Retric 2y agoAn ICE engine is vastly louder stationary at a stoplight or stuck in heavy traffic. Both of which are is really common in cities. Regenerative braking is also vastly quieter.
- hristov 2y agoNo they are not. Electric cars are notably quieter under 50 mph. They are notably quieter at all speeds really.
- ben-schaaf 2y agoOver 30km/h road noise dominates and EVs generate similar noise to ice cars: https://www.toi.no/getfile.php/1340825/mmarkiv/Forside%202015/compett-foredrag/Lykke%20-Silent%20Urban%20Driving.pdf https://www.toi.no/getfile.php/1340825/mmarkiv/Forside%20201...
- Spooky23 2y agoI don’t think this is something that occurs to people. When I jog, i noticed pre-AirPods pro that I could listen to podcasts fine on the side street blocks that i normally run on, but once I hit the avenue (more traffic and 30-40 speed), it’s hard for me to hear without noise cancellation.
- obruchez 2y agoIn Europe at least, where most (?) transmissions are still manual, you will still get way more noise from an ICE vehicle than an electric vehicle at low speed. This is my experience everywhere here in cities, on small roads, etc. This is largely caused by the fact that people tend to not drive in an optimal manner (i.e. using a low gear instead of a higher one).