Electric cars: a ‘noisy’ future
The future of electric cars is set to be rather ‘noisy’. This has been established by the European Union which, under legislation that came into force in July 2019, is obliging all owners of electric cars to fit them with a device which produces a constant sound.
Among the ecological features of these vehicles, as well as their virtually zero emission levels and low cost of their internal component maintenance, is also their very low noise level.
Noise pollution has been a problem for many years, especially for those living in close proximity to roads with constant heavy traffic flows, but a car which may not be heard as it approaches could be very dangerous.
As electric cars do not emit any sound, they could pose a potential risk to safety. There have been several accounts throughout the EU of accidents involving distracted pedestrians who failed to notice the approach of an electric car because it was so silent. The legislation also takes into consideration the visually impaired and blind, who often use sounds as signals for orientation purposes.
Legislation to make electric cars noisier in detail
The solution proposed by the European Union is to oblige all electric vehicles to install a device which is able to emit varying sounds. The faster the speed reached, the more intense the sound becomes, up to a maximum of 75 decibels. The minimum noise produced must still be 56 decibels at speeds not exceeding 20 km/hour.
AVAS (or Audible Vehicle Alert System) is the name of the device which will be fitted to vehicles in order to generate these sounds and the driver will not be able to deactivate it under any circumstances, so it will remain operational in order to guarantee road safety.
All vehicles produced from July 2020 onwards will have it as a standard feature, while vehicles already on the market and purchased before this legislation came into effect, will be obliged to make the necessary upgrades by July 2021 or risk a hefty fine.
The regulations apply not only to completely electric cars but also to hybrid vehicles and to all those with four or more wheels which can be operated in both normal mode, in reverse or with a forward gear without the use of an internal combustion engine.
The NGTSA (National Highway Traffic Safety Administration) in the United States is developing a similar legislation for the regulation of electric vehicles. In the case of American road safety, the minimum speed at which the vehicle must produce sound is set at 28 km/hour.
Acoustic solutions before AVAS
The debate over the danger of electric cars due to them being too quiet has been going on for years. This issue was such a central one for electric car manufacturers that some of them had already developed their own acoustic systems in order to guarantee better road safety.
However, some versions turned out to be inaccurate, often barely audible to pedestrians or even with such strange sounds that they could not be identified as a danger (there is an interesting anecdote about some new systems which produced sounds similar to those of flying cars seen in science fiction films, causing passers-by to look up to the sky, rather than towards the real danger).
The European Union’s action has resulted in guidelines being set which are equal for everyone so as to avoid controversies and misunderstandings. AVAS is therefore the only system to be taken into consideration when analysing the security standards of electric cars.
Translated by Joanne Beckwith
