‘Cars’ b/w ‘Are Friends Electric?’
Should electric vehicles make a noise? If so, what, why and how?
Ed. This piece was first published at cityofsound.com on May 13th 2009, responding to an article in The Economist. It is of its time, and so are some of the links. I’m republishing a decade on due to a July 2019 Guardian report on the Transport for London’s new policy on sounds for electric buses. Subsequently, some further thinking about noise, health, safety and streets occurred in these projects.A recent article in The Economist (May 7th 2009) suggests that electric cars should generate a noise to compensate for the loss of combustion engine noise, as they are so quiet.
Despite noting there is little research (though I’ll share some below), The Economist says “Some drivers say that when their cars are in electric mode people are more likely to step out in front of them. The solution, many now believe, is to fit electric and hybrid cars with external sound systems.” Their subtitle – “Sound generators will make electric and hybrid cars safer” – suggests that this is their position too.
Where to start?
Let’s quickly deal with the safety issue. People adapt easily enough. We’ve adapted to numerous successive modes of transport in the past without the need to artificially…
