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Some electric vehicles are very silent. I've seen a girl almost get run over by a quiet one - she was listening to music on her phone, so not sure anything shor

• aetherson 12y ago
  To be clear, this isn't a safety feature. The noise is being piped into the cabin of the car, not out to people in the environment around the car. It's to make the driver hear a satisfying growl when you stamp down on the accelerator.
  • GFischer 12y ago
    Thanks, I thought it was sent to the exterior, I read "All I can hear is a slight whine from the hybrid electric powerplant ready to be abused" and when I read the above comment I thought they were piping it to the exterior, like in this article: http://www.psfk.com/2014/04/electric-car-fake-noise-safety.html http://www.psfk.com/2014/04/electric-car-fake-noise-safety.h... "The European Parliament has just ruled that electric vehicles and hybrid cars have to be fitted with fake engine sounds so that people will hear them coming. The mandate aims to make streets safer for everyone, especially the blind and visually-impaired."
    • greglindahl 12y ago
      The tire noise of electric cars makes them sufficiently audible above a relatively low speed. Also note that conventional cars which are coasting are much quieter than conventional cars that are accelerating. As an electric car driver, I quickly figured out when I need to be very careful around pedestrians -- a bit more often than in a conventional car, but not that different.