Prius with fake engine noise

[lazysheep]

not sure where they got their "engine noise" from, but it sounds like something being dragged along the pavement.

Fake engine noise makes electric cars safer

Hybrid and electric vehicles are potentially silent killers thanks to their stealthy electric engines that do not warn pedestrians they are coming. So goes the argument for making them produce some kind of warning noise, a proposal strongly backed by the National Federation for the Blind.

A bill backed by 16 US members of Congress would require the Department of Transportation to establish minimum sound levels for all hybrid and electric vehicles. And just last month, a mother whose son was hit by a Toyota Prius raised concerns over the stealthy nature of such cars.

Two Stanford students think they have the answer - you can see it at work in the video above.

It makes a noise that to my ears sounds a bit like a throaty motorbike in need of a service.

I blogged previously about the vexed question of what noise the cars should make ??? reader suggestions ranged from Stars Wars noises to the sound of horse's hooves.

Do you think this Stanford system is any better than those?

Tom Simonite, online technology editor

YouTube - Fake engine noise makes electric cars safer

YouTube - Fake engine noise makes electric cars safer

[SureValla]

not a chance that goes on my prius not a chance

sounds like a creaky door more then an engine

[enerjazz]

Why don't we just bang two coconuts together like in Monty Python and the Holy Grail. If they don't hear that we can throw the husks at them.

[icarus]

Bubble gum card in the spokes, bicycle bell?

Icarus

[kazuya]

I'd recommend an advanced thrumming noise. Something that would produce a clear doppler. Noise in the in the towns should still turn out to be lower since cars like trucks along with buses will make very similar sound as a smaller automobile.

[dogfriend]

Mine is going to sound like a Harley. Not that BS on the video.

When the grad student was saying "I got the skills to make it happen" I was thinking: fat lot of good that Stanford education did you.


I wonder who will get the first ticket for not making the minimum required amount of noise?

[greylar]

LOL it sounds exactly like a skateboard on a rough road.

Dog your exactly right they could have made it sound like anything why cr*p it up with that stupid sound. Heck I've seen a device somewhere that has speakers outside the car (read subwoofer) and you can make your car sound like any vehicle out there.
G

[minkforce1]

obnoxious. unnecessary. put it on my car and i'll knife you foo

[sdtundra]

You put that on my car, you die.

[bee13]

Oh no, that is not going on my car! The muted, "at-peace-with-itself" operating sound of the Prius is one of the main things I love about this car.

On the other hand, I understand the need for some kind of audible sound for the visually impaired; measures probably need to be taken but not this raucous piece of garbage.