Nissan gives silent electric cars 'Blade Runner' appeal

A campaign backed by automakers and some lawmakers to make electric or hybrid cars noisier in a bid to increase safety for pedestrians and cyclists has taken a strange, “Blade Runner”-type twist.

Nissan sound engineers have announced that the Leaf electric car set for release next year will emit a “beautiful and futuristic” noise similar to the sound of flying cars -- or “spinners” -- that buzz around 2019 Los Angeles in Ridley Scott’s dystopian thriller based on a Philip K. Dick science fiction novel.

“We decided that if we’re going to do this, if we have to make sound, then we’re going to make it beautiful and futuristic,” Toshiyuki Tabata, Nissan’s noise and vibration expert, told Bloomberg. “We wanted something a bit different, something closer to the world of art.”

Automakers since 2007 have been exploring ways to increase the sound of electric or hybrid vehicles, which run almost silently at low speeds, after concerns were expressed by advocates for the blind and for the safety of pedestrians and cyclists. Nissan says its system would turn off after the car reaches 12 mph, when, it says, tire noise is deemed loud enough to warn a pedestrian or cyclist that a car is approaching.

An act going through Congress -- The Pedestrian Safety Enhancement Act of 2008 -- would require a federal ruling on whether a minimum sound level for hybrid and electric cars is needed and, if so, for the Department of Transportation to set that limit. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration will release a report on the issue in January. And Nissan, alongside Toyota and Honda, has responded to concerns in Japan over sound-emission safety, and in a combined report with Japanese government agencies will present its findings later this year.

Some reports suggest that in the future, car owners will download a sound for their car the way many consumers buy ring tones for their cellphones. No word yet on whether electric vehicles will -- a la “Blade Runner” replicants -- get implanted memories, though.

-- Craig Howie

Top photo: A futuristic car, or "spinner," in the 1982 film "Blade Runner." Credit: Warner Bros. Pictures

Bottom photo: Nissan's Leaf. Credit: EPA

Comments

[Robert]

I want the Jetson car sound for my electric/hybrid

[Allannde]

I have a hybrid AND an electric car. I don't get the fuss.

I LIKE the quiet. I tend to look out the front when I drive and I don't run in to trees, buildings, cars or people I encounter.

If I am going slow enough that my tires are silent, I can stop very quickly. All tires make quite a bit of noise above 10 mph.

I don't see the problem.

[kent]

It's a good idea, but I'm not sure if a bunch of customized ringtone-style sounds makes a lot of sense. The noise needs to be identifiable as a vehicle to be effective.

[Joe Public]

I'm sorry, but cyclists can just learn to look first. This rule is going to result in unnecessary noise pollution, especially as population grows and we live more tightly packed in together. And I feel bad for the blind, but they can't rely on tire and engine noise only anyway for their safety. We always think of lobbyists as big corporations, but this law is the result of special interests, too, and we're all going to suffer the noise pollution from it. Imagine YOU had to live next to a busy street or highway!

[Roberto DePaschoal]

In my project I have envisioned a couple of speakers in front of your EV connected to the sound system. That way you could play, Mozart, Rossini, or Madonna and Eminem, etc... or for nostalgic fans, recordings from Cummins, Caterpillar, Volvo and other Diesel composers .

[francis]

Great - now we are going to have all sorts of awful types of sounds being issued forth from cars, from fart noises, to Rap groups, Death Metal, vacant top 40 tweener hits, people screaming, etc. The is no limit to bad taste when people make choices.

[Dan Dart]

download a sound for their car - http:///
no link

[David]

Joe Public - "I'm sorry, but cyclists can just learn to look first."

By and large, it is not because cyclists don't look, they do, they have lots of skin in that game, *they look*. The issue is that *car drivers* don't look. I dont think these cars need to be made louder, I think the car drivers ( of any kind ) need to be more careful.

[Please don't let it be like ringtones]

Bad idea. I present exhibit A: Crazy Frog
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XkHm8uUuT0o

[No One]

You have a story about a sound for Nissan's new car, and no link for us to hear it????

[Marsh]

@Joe Public:

Clearly you've never ridden a bicycle in an area with a lot of electric cars. The biggest problem is when one comes up BEHIND you and decides to take a right turn while looking to the left or not paying attention, while you are going straight. The responsibility there is on the driver of the car, I've already looked left and right to make sure I have the right of way.

In this case, I'd say that drivers need to learn to look first. But since they have often shown they are incapable of this, I'd like their car to make some kind of sound so I can look out for them, thank you very much.

[xilex]

It goes both ways. You can tell bicylists to look first, but there are going to be those that suddenly swerve because they 'thought' there was no car behind them. And then you have the poor drivers out there (you can't avoid this, can't really just tell them to get off the road), and at least with noise, a bicylist or the blind can anticipate and plan ahead of time.

[JG]

This is definitely some unnecessary creativity. It would be better for everyone if it just sounded like a car. Blind people, cyclists, other pedestrians are already accustomed to listening for and it wouldn't inject a new form of noise into the urban environment.

I will say though that, "I am a good driver, I never hit anything." Is not a sufficient assurance for me. You may trust yourself, but there is no reason for me to trust you.

[Shawn]

Sounds like most the previous comments were made by people who rarely leave their cars. In the case of cyclists, a very common accident is when a motorist speeds past a cyclist to make a right turn and misjudges the speed of the cyclist and their breaking capabilities. The resulting impact is usually pretty nasty, and cyclists mitigate this type of accident largely by hearing cars approach from behind.

[anon]

You know what is great about the web? You can actually include sound samples.

[aw]

Here we go again. The Government expanding into our personal lives to regulate NOISE of all things. Give me a break! Next it will put restrictions on my after-market exhaust system which can set-off car alarms 2 blocks away.

I say, "Don't tread on my right to be loud!"

As the great philosopher Newt Gingrich may have said, "I make noise, therefore I am."

[Lucky so far]

I agree with Joe Public | September 19, 2009 at 04:37 AM and...

I am legally blind (3% vision), ride a bike for transport because the only alternatives are almost non existent public transport or relying on others and I hate that. I also live on a major highway that carries every truck and car between my city and the east coast past my front door and bedroom window.

The only change I want mandated for electric cars, and vehicles in general, is for headlights to be on if the vehicle is capable of moving. On 4 occasions I have come close to being killed (as a pedestrian crossing roads) at dusk when it's too dark for me to see a car more than 6ft away but many/most drivers just won't turn their lights on because they don't understand that they are there to be seen as much as to see.

[Annie Get Your Gun]

This gets a Doofus award, and any legislator that votes for it may deserve the other famous stupidity award.

Build outward-projecting speakers into any car, and within a month every kind of unbearable cr@p is going to be spewing out of them, and it will be wired to be always on not from, say 1-12 mph. You think the more obnoxious owners are going to leave the factory sound in place?

People who live near intersections will clamor to borrow SP's moose gun. Huh... maybe states can sell Manilow, Sinatra and Rap permits, allowing the holder to bag a limited number of drivers who have the forward speakers spewing each variety of noise. Help balance the budget, it may.

[Mark]

There are already at least two domain names registered by people wanting to sell "Drive Tones" or "EV Tones" for your electric vehicle.
http://www.drivetones.com
http://www.evtones.com
I think I like the term "Drive Tones".

[Gandanguru]

Then this noise-law will be applied for the other silent road-users, bicycles, prams, skateboards, Segways?
Completely silly idea.
Maybe extend the electronics a little bit and only make silly noises in the advent of a near-collision? Like parking-aides already do?

[Cliver Oliver]

The Nissan 'sounds' appealing. As for 'no noise' dangers, I was one who said it wasn't a big deal, until I was nearly whacked by a Prius backing out of residential driveway. The driver had been sitting in the car before I walked passed the driveway on the sidewalk and the silent vehicle came-to-life with no sounds. Luckily I'm still able to jump (backwards).

[Phil Weber]

Implant the blind with RFID that will “buzz” if they get to close to a noise free car

This way they can talk on the cell and not get hit, then blame the owner or the manufacture that the car is too “quite”

We have way too much sound and noises pollution why add to it?

[Paul Scott]

As one who drives a very quiet RAV4 EV, I have to agree with Allannde, there really isn't a problem with people hearing us when we're going more that 10 mph. However, there are times when I'm driving in a parking lot and someone walking in front of me can't hear me. At those times, I'd really like a programmable audio device triggered by a button on the steering wheel. Honking the horn scares the crap out them, and the only other solution is to roll down my window and turn the radio up loud.

I'd much rather play the music of my choice. And yes, as Francis says, we'll be subjected to all manner of tastes, but that's not likely to be a problem since people will tire of just playing it for fun. Folks will want to listen to their own music inside the car.

Trust me, this will work.

[Egon]

I'm totally gonna download the ecto-1 siren to my cars noisemaker.

[Kaine]

I can see the usefulness of this. The sounds produced do not have to be overly loud to get the point across that there is a vehicle nearby. They only have to be audible and identifiable on, e.g. a busy Manhattan street, or some such location.

My personal opinion on this is that if purely electric vehicles are to have these sounds, they should be according to a set of rules. Perhaps something like the following (not meant to be detailed, but to get the gist of the idea across).

One) Each vehicle manufacturer should have a specific set of sounds for its electric vehicles, so that the blind and others can identify the type of vehicle without having to ask anyone (presuming they're familiar already with that particular type of vehicle's sound signature).

Two) "Car-Tones" -- Meaning the user downloadable ring-tone-like audio for these vehicles should NOT be allowed. It's bad enough already that people drive through neighborhoods blaring their music too loud. I agree with another poster here that the additional broadcast of more obnoxious noises should be prevented.

Additional notes:

Kent / Francis: It was stated in the article that the noise would cease once the car exceeded 12 mph or so. So any highway noise would be the same as always. There would be no additional noise generated from the described system (unless of course someone learns how to hack the system, and thus blares their noise/music/whatever. This can be largely prevented by hard-coding the sounds into the hardware, and not using any sort of flash bios or other programmable types of controllers in their systems. Although any upgrades at that point would require new hardware, which would very likely be expensive)

Allannde: Looking out the front is expected. But what about the blind man who doesn't have his dog with him, who approaches the car from your blind spot, and thinks that he's safe to cross because he can't hear it? His only warning at that point would be his cane, and that may in fact be too late, depending on how far ahead he probes with it. Personally, I'm willing to risk a little more noise at low speeds to keep people safe.

People are used to cars that make noise, and that means that although people usually watch where they're going, they're also relying heavily on their hearing to detect things that they might not see. I do this myself, and it's saved me several times. I DO pay attention, but sometimes a vehicle springs out of a driveway, or a parking garage a little too fast, and my only hint that it's there is my ability to hear it.

Anyway, my two cents here. Keep the change.
Kaine