Skip to main content

Noise generators for electric cars

New rules in the US mean that electric vehicles will require noise generation equipment. This covers electric vehicles and hybrids as well as motorcycles, medium and heavy trucks and buses. It specifies that the alert sound must be sufficient to allow a pedestrian to detect a nearby EV or PHEV operating at constant speed, accelerating, decelerating and operating in any other critical scenarios. It must reflect the minimum sound level emitted by a motor vehicle that is necessary to allow visually-impaired an
June 18, 2012 Read time: 2 mins
Electric cars will need noise generators to ensure safety
New rules in the US mean that electric vehicles will require noise generation equipment.

This covers electric vehicles and hybrids as well as motorcycles, medium and heavy trucks and buses. It specifies that the alert sound must be sufficient to allow a pedestrian to detect a nearby EV or PHEV operating at constant speed, accelerating, decelerating and operating in any other critical scenarios. It must reflect the minimum sound level emitted by a motor vehicle that is necessary to allow visually-impaired and other pedestrians to detect a nearby EV or PHEV operating below the cross-over speed. In addition, it must reflect the performance requirements necessary to ensure that each vehicle’s alert sound is as recognisable to pedestrians as that of a motor vehicle in operation. The implementation of the rulemaking is due in 2014 and should come into effect by 2017.

In 2011 the 2465 European Commission drafted a guideline for Acoustic Vehicle Alerting Systems. This guideline, intended to make recommendations to manufacturers for the installation of systems that provide vehicle operation information to vulnerable road users, is planned as an interim guidance until completion of on-going research activities and the development of a global harmonisation for device performance specifications.

For more information on companies in this article

Related Content

  • Towards an EU framework for the security of widezones: research project “ZONeSEC”
    June 8, 2015
    The security and safety of the EU’s key infrastructure is a major issue and requires Pan-European agreement Critical infrastructure, such as highways, energy lines or pipelines, may spread over large areas covering wide geographic zones. There is clearly a need to provide proper security for such infrastructure against illicit actions and against incidents that may escalate to crises. As a result, developing 24/7 surveillance systems for the security of Wide Zones (with multiple assets at localised scale
  • Europe's smart road pricing project
    April 12, 2012
    New trials pave the way for smart road pricing using Global Navigation Satellite Systems (GNSS). In recent years, the concept of road charging has been gaining acceptability among Europe's policymakers.
  • Europe's smart road pricing project
    February 20, 2012
    New trials pave the way for smart road pricing using Global Navigation Satellite Systems (GNSS). In recent years, the concept of road charging has been gaining acceptability among Europe's policymakers.
  • Motorcycle type approval deal for Europe
    November 29, 2012
    The Members of the European Parliament have now approved the regulation on the approval of two- and three wheelers. This included a number of amendments which have been welcomed by motorcyclists as a compromise. The regulation is setting new rules and technical requirements for manufacturers who sell motorcycles in the European Union. The new rules were intended to improve safety for motorcyclists but in the original form, these would have been expensive to implement and would have resulted in substantial c