Your Car is TOO Quiet

There are two very distinct schools of thought regarding the noise that a vehicle makes. While there are some who say that power is only in the roar of the engine, and there are those who would be perfectly happy if all the noise just stopped. But there is a group in the US who is quite serious about vehicles making at least some noise, for the sake of safety.

To dispel the misconception that loud equals power, the Tesla Model S and the Roadster both have nearly noiseless motors and both can accelerate from 0-60 mph in less than 4 seconds.  This speed is primarily due to the fact that both vehicles do not have more than one gear in forward motion and 100 % torque from a standstill. The lack of noise is due to the lack of any controlled explosions in the electric motor. Inside the motor there is no contact between the electromotive force and the drive shaft.

I only mention the fact that the electric motor is "near-silent" because the sound what few gears transfer power between the drive shaft and wheels and cooling fans on the motor controller aren't completely quiet.  Also, you may wonder why I have used Tesla as a model for the speed example.  Although the Smart ED is definitely an electric car, it is not an electric car for speed.  It is an efficient car for getting around town.

But, as a contrast to those who believe that loud equals power, there are those people who are quite happy to drive in silence (at least vehicle silence).  Vehicles are not yet immune to creating road noise.  There is still the sound of tires on the road and of an object pushing air aside at high speed.  Can you imagine what the freeway would be like without the noise of so many engines running simultaneously?  It wouldn't be completely quiet, but it would be much less noisy, especially if tractor trailers went electric.

Despite all the good that can come from a vehicle being much less quiet than before, the Pedestrian Safety Enhancement Act of 2010 was signed into law in 2011, to guarantee that electric vehicles can be heard.  It's been said that this is for the sake of the blind that electric vehicles have been forced to have some noise generators on-board.

In a sense this Act is on the same level as banning Google Glass before it has debuted.  We've not had a great deal of time to determine whether the lack of engine noise is the issue with electric vehicles or if tire noise is sufficient to keep someone from being hit.

For now, though if you do purchase or plan to drive an electric vehicle know this, the engine hasn't died, it's just "near-silent".