e
An update on "vroom tones" for electric cars
Last year we wrote about electric car manufacturers consulting with Hollywood to design fake engine sounds for the otherwise silent cars. A degree of noise is deemed necessary for pedestrian safety, particularly since these days more people seem to be crossing the street with their eyes glued to their cell phone text messages. Not to mention blind pedestrians, for whom sound is the only warning that a vehicle is approaching.
We had hoped this would usher in an innovative era of Priuses that sound like TIE Fighters and Honda Insights that sound like a herd of galloping horses, but alas, it seems early efforts have been bobbled. The Times reports that blind advocates are well disappointed with Nissan's Approaching Vehicle Sound for Pedestrians for their Leaf car, because it was inexplicably designed with an on-off switch, meaning a driver can willfully disable the safety feature.
As for the noises themselves, we find the choices slightly puzzling and less fun than we'd imagined:
To hear the engine noise, click here.
To hear the backup noise, click here.
-
oFavorite This
-
Q6Comment
Directory Company Profiles
Core77
Industrial Design
Resources
Industrial Design
Resources
-
Core77 Directory
Find the Best Industrial Design CompaniesGo -
TactileTactile is a product and UX design firm founded in 2004. Blending physical and digital design, we cr...
-
Logitech
-
Tandem Product Design
With a stellar record of design and engineering successful products with World Class brands since 20...
-
Pq Design Group
PQ Design Group is the preferred partner for ambitious startups and global brands, offering a pragma...
-
Spatial Dynamics
Spatial Dynamics is a hardware product design and development agency located in Cambridge, Massachus...
-
James Owen Design
We've been creating brands, designing and developing new products, and destroying mediocrity for ove...
-
Jackson Hedden Inc
We design unique products for startups, companies, and everything in between. We believe good design...
K
{Welcome
Create a Core77 Account
Already have an account? Sign In
By creating a Core77 account you confirm that you accept the Terms of Use
K
Reset Password
Please enter your email and we will send an email to reset your password.
Comments
http://s3images.coroflot.com/user_files/individual_files/119474_6ockQ4FqJ809gVpuFJ2g3srz_.jpg
That sort of thing WILL have an on-off switch for the technically savvy.