Most American humans and pets know the distinctive sound of an LLV trolling around the block delivering the mail. EVs are Ninja-like by comparison. I'm not suggesting this is a bad thing, but it's gonna be a different world.
https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2018/02/26/2018-03...
This need to make EVs loud sucks because I was really looking forward to a quieter environment. But no. Now I can tell you exactly when my neighbor two houses away is backing his Tesla into the garage, but not when his wife comes & goes in her Tahoe.
I've been working in my driveway on something, and had my wife pull up in our EV and I don't know the car is there until she's 4' away. Glad she knew I was there.
Noise pollution is a problem but the safety issues are more important.
Also if I’m backing up would you rather a muted noise or me constantly hitting my horn?
India has entered the chat. =)
Noise pollution has it's own consequences too, I'd like to see the numbers on people injured in the specific situation before declaring it an unambiguous good.
Cars are some of the worst offenders, of course. They always have been. But they've become a lot worse and apparently EVs are only going to continue that trend, apparently. I've noticed the utterly pointless "door open" chiming sound has started to appear on cars sold in Europe. Why do I and everyone around me need to know the car door is open when I've literally just opened it to enter the vehicle? Again, think about the cumulative effect of all these stupid pointless noises.
No. They are not. Nor have they been since at least the 1990s (probably longer)
There are standards for "drive-by noise" as measured at various speeds, distances and throttle positions and these standards have been in places and constantly been revised (to be more comprehensive) over time.
I'm unfamiliar with the specific FMVSS #s but I am familiar with the engineering shenanigans that have been implemented to meet them.
Ha, that's a good example. My neighbor has a new F150 and I can tell every time he gets out of it to run back in the house to get something he forgot. Ford's chimes have been a meme for many years, and the newest ones are the best yet. And by 'best' I mean somehow musical and pleasant but also terribly irritating.
I want a quieter environment too, but one with dramatically less cars.