Electric Car Sound Debate

For 30 years, engineers have been working on making cars quiet, so the criticism that electric cars are, in fact, too quiet, seem foolish. And in my humble opinion, it is completely ridiculous, kind of like this article I just read about a UK politician’s idea to put cowbells on electric cars to make them more safe.

Most modern, four cylinder vehicles are virtually inaudible at low speeds. And at constant speeds of 30-60 mph, the most audible noise of a modern sedan is the tires rolling against the pavement and wind resistance.  Granted, at idle and extremely low speeds, an electric vehicle is basically silent compared to an internal combustion engine.  However, you cannot even notice the discrepancy unless you are within five feet of the car to begin with.

Anyway, take a listen to the Fisker Karma in action and tell me that the electric vehicle doesn’t make any noise:

Pretty similar to a jet engine spooling up. This is a perfectly acceptable amount of sound. The whole premise of a car being “too quiet” is ridiculous. Electric cars are inaudible because they are efficient. Less heat, friction, moving parts, and noise means less energy is wasted turning the wheels.

2010 Tesla Roadster Sport

This is a pretty cool video on the Tesla Roadster Sport.

First, there is a pretty informative overview of the interior. The Roadster now has a working glove compartment, alright! The transmission selector is now four buttons on the center console instead of a traditional lever. You can select from drive, neutral, reverse, and park. The console also features a port for your ipod or iphone, which from experience, really comes in handy nowadays. Accents on the car are all true carbon fiber, which is rare, because of how commonly it is faked.

The host also gives the battery of the Tesla Roadster Sport a once over. Giving the predictable, “There’s not much to look at here” quip. The Tesla Sport only has a single speed, so there is no complicated transmission bungling up the power to the wheels. He notes the car has 288 hp as apposed to the 248 of its predecessor; which gives it a 3.7 0-60 acceleration, .2 second quicker.

The best part of this video in my opinion is the host’s explanation of the Roadster’s regenerative brakes. When you hit the brakes, you are still using friction braking. The regenerative braking is when you lift off the gas, and you are slowed down by the regen brakes to give a “synthetic compression braking”. So it gives you that pulled forward feeling like you get when you lift off the gas in too low a gear in a regular vehicle.

Electric Cars Highlight Tokyo Auto Show

Below is The Auto Channel’s coverage of the 2009 Tokyo Auto Show. Unique, compact electric cars were the focus of the event.  First up in the video is the Mazda Kiyora, which actually is not an electric vehicle at all, but is propelled by a Mazda SKY-G highly-efficient 1.3 liter direct injection gasoline engine. It must have been included by mistake, but is nevertheless, a very low-consumption vehicle. The Toyota FT-EV is indeed an electric vehicle that gets 60 miles on a charge and can reach speeds of up to 70 mph. It’s so short, it looks like you could park it perpendicular on the street. The Nissan Leaf, further along than the other concept vehicles, should get you 100 miles on a charge and 87 mph on the highway. The Land Glider is another tilting EV that gets 60 miles on a charge and only achieves a top speed of 40 mph, so irrelevant in other words.