With new age motoring, we will no longer see exhaust tail pipes and we will miss them. Yes, this once very aesthetic feature in every vehicle will soon be gone…not completely in our lifetime, but it will come as electric vehicles (EV) take over the roads, there will be no need for exhausts and the exhausts aftermarket industry.
All will be needed will be speakers to amplify the sound of the electric driven motor to warn pedestrians and give sports electric vehicle drivers some aural enjoyment.
Todays driver loves the car’s internal combustion engine which the next generation will never notice anymore. Now consider what cities might sound like in the not-too-distant future when they are filled with electric vehicles. The streets will be quiet, way too quiet. And that presents a problem. EV’s will need some feature warning sounds to alert pedestrians (especially people with eye sight issues) to their presence and a humming sound will just not do.
These sound actuators (or sound generators, “Active Sound”) can make a car growl with power or just be loud enough to warn pedestrians.
These are loudspeakers that can play any kind of engine sound under the control of the speed signal. Electric cars are extremely quiet. The only sounds they make come from the tires, the air, and occasionally from the high-pitched whine of the electronics.
Some car drivers really like their cabin silence and they will embrace this immediately. Pedestrians have mixed feelings, but blind people are greatly concerned. After all, they cross streets in traffic by relying upon the sounds of vehicles. That’s how they know when it is safe to cross. And what is true for the blind might also be true for anyone stepping onto the street while distracted.
We want to maintain our classic cars and will ‘fight’ to keep the engine sound thrumming under our control.
