Business

Silence Isn’t Golden: Audi ‘Composes’ Engine Noise for Quiet Hybrid and Electric Vehicles

Hybrids and electric vehicles (EVs) are at the center of a hotly contested debate: one side believes they are costly, lousy investments while the other side argues it’s a moral imperative for drivers to make the switch.

But there is one point that everyone agrees on: hybrids and EVs are outrageously, remarkably quiet.

Silence Isnt Golden: Audi Composes Engine Noise for Quiet Hybrid and Electric VehiclesToo, too quiet…

In fact, hybrids and EVs are so quiet that researchers at Audi have dedicated the last three years to figuring out how to deal with this safety issue.

“Since pedestrians and cyclists are likely used to cars that make some engine noise, Audi has recruited a sound engineer to compose sounds for its future electric cars. Unlike regular automobiles that make use of explosive fuel, electric cars usually emit nothing more than tire noises, which mean you’ll need an acute sense of hearing to avoid getting run over,” CNET’s Timothy Fernandez writes.

“By playing back a synthesized audio track that gets louder and more intense as the vehicle accelerates, Audi could be making these electric cars safer for people, too, and not just the environment,” he adds.

Watch a short explanation of Audi’s achievement (via CNET):

Final thought: As CNET notes, will Audi’s research lead to a future where we can customize how our engines sound? Because if this is the case, we are totally programming our car to sound like the Jetson-mobile.

(H/T: BI)

Front page photo source: Designboom

Comments (50)

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  • slvrserfr
    Posted on April 10, 2012 at 11:21am

    Kind of reminds me of the sound of the Jetsons space vehicle.

    Report Post »  
    • db321
      Posted on April 10, 2012 at 12:01pm

      I like the sound my Escalade makes with it’s Borla Exhaust. Every time I’m at a stop light next to a Hybrid – I punch it when the light turns green! I use more gas in 5 seconds that Hybrid saves in a month.

      Report Post » db321  
    • txn4justice
      Posted on April 10, 2012 at 12:53pm

      Dreaming all the day long. I only like dreaming………..

      Report Post »  
  • Khedewia
    Posted on April 10, 2012 at 10:59am

    I don’t know. I think it is a good idea. I remember the first time I saw an electric car. I was walking in a parking lot and suddenly, an electric car pulled out of a parking spot and almost hit me. I jumped back. I was wondering why the car didn’t make an noise pulling out. That’s when my husband told me it was an electric car. I think the added noise is a good idea. Even when you are being careful, it is an added safety feature to hear the car too. Drivers don’t always pay attention too.

    Report Post »  
  • bluntforce
    Posted on April 10, 2012 at 10:37am

    Back at the turn of the last century, when the automobile was a feared, new -fangled contraption that was scaring horses and pedestrians alike. Some towns required each vehicle to have a person walking in front of the car with a lit lantern or flag. With our brave, young Prezidents trying to move the country back towards those days of foot travel, perhaps some of the more “progressive” cities could re-enact that long forgotten rule when it comes to these wonderful coal powered electric cars. I‘m sure it’d be a hit in San FranFreakshow and New York.

    Report Post » bluntforce  
  • G-WHIZ
    Posted on April 10, 2012 at 10:01am

    Did your parents ever teach you about stop–look-left/right, listen, then cross the street?? No! mummy wants the government to do it cause she’s goin out to do her nails and hair…it’s too much trouble to teach your own child. The lib-o-tards will self-eliminate…just get popcorn, sit back and watch. Then the world will be again, safe for:”TRUTH–JUSTICE–AND THE AMERICAN WAY”.

    Report Post »  
  • loneindividual
    Posted on April 10, 2012 at 8:14am

    this is just…dumb

    All this does is play to our past of what we think is the future.

    I hate the future.

    Report Post » loneindividual  
  • Wyatt's Torch
    Posted on April 10, 2012 at 7:51am

    Better yet, forget the sound, just put a cow catcher on the front of it, like the old steam locomotives, to deflect text-walkers, cell talkers, ear-budders, and other oblivious people from your path.

    Report Post » Wyatt's Torch  
  • Wyatt's Torch
    Posted on April 10, 2012 at 7:48am

    I wonder how much energy is used to power all the electronics to amp the speakers to produce the sound, thus taking away from the cars efficiency. I think a better sound would be a recorded voice that says “look at me, look at me, look at me, I spent alot, look at me….”

    Report Post » Wyatt's Torch  
  • schlepnier
    Posted on April 10, 2012 at 7:34am

    Its a tron cycle……

    Seriously leave them quite, If your to dumb to be aware of your surroundings you deserve what you get.

    Report Post » schlepnier  
  • THXll38
    Posted on April 10, 2012 at 7:07am

    A nice throaty V8 would sound much nicer. Like another poster said, it would be really cool to be able to pick your sound.

    Report Post » THXll38  
  • brntout
    Posted on April 10, 2012 at 3:28am

    Well goodby left cheek sneak if it is that quiet.

    Report Post »  
  • The-Monk
    Posted on April 10, 2012 at 2:03am

    Back in the late 70‘s and early 80’s we had to put little whistlers on our front bumpers to alert deer to run off the road before they got caught in the headlights.

    Now we are going to have electric cars that are so silent that we are going to have loud speakers on the roof that sound like a Harley motorcycle is coming down the road for the SAFETY of others?

    What a nightmare?

    Report Post » The-Monk  
    • Apple Bite
      Posted on April 10, 2012 at 3:29am

      Or…

      We can boot the environMENTALists in the can, and put an old fashion V8 in the frame to get that good old fashion grunt and power back on the road. With gas, there’s no need to spend unwieldy amounts of research into creating sound for a vehicle.

      Dodge would never approve of such research.

      Report Post » Apple Bite  
    • TomFerrari
      Posted on April 10, 2012 at 7:04am

      Lol. I got a visual of two large speakers that look like Mickey Mouse or a Trudy Nolan pest truck, coming down the street.
      Like you, I thought of Harley 2-cylinder, detuned engine sound.
      Harley tried to copyright the sound, but was denied, a couple years ago.
      How much you wanna bet Audi gets a copyright on this?

      Me? Sign me up for customizable sound, and I’ll go with Harley. Okay, maybe the Jetson’s spacemobile would be über cool on vacation.
      On that subject, can we PLEASE have voice recognition and speech synthesis? Why do we have to have “ding” “ ding” “ding” when the door is open. Why can’t we have a sexy voice say, “passenger door is open” with increasing volume when ignored? Or a turn signal that says, “turning right” (you didn’t really think I would use a “left” example did you?) My old GPS promised customizable voices, though their website and software was so buggy they would never DL. That was TomTom who proved they don’t care about the US market. So, in the tradition of capitalism, I threw it away and bought a Garmin.
      We want CHOICES! We want competition! Our dollars will pick winners, not obama and his socialist democrat minions.

      Report Post » TomFerrari  
  • rlewispitt
    Posted on April 10, 2012 at 1:46am

    There is another factor here also. Remember, an audio amplifier is a power drain. Playing back the audio at significant volume levels will also be a drain on the power source of the vehicle. I’d personally disable it if I had one of those.

    Report Post »  
  • Epic Fail
    Posted on April 10, 2012 at 1:07am

    They need to start over with that sound. It sounds like a car from some lame syfi movie. How about just similate the real R8. Or as mentioned in other posts, make it selectable for various engine sounds. I’d also pick the killer V8 with the massive lift cam..

    Report Post » Epic Fail  
  • Wilma
    Posted on April 10, 2012 at 12:15am

    Finally, a quiet car ride. That is perhaps the most compelling reason to buy a green car. Too bad it is a hazard for pedestrians. But safety is paramount.

    Report Post » Wilma  
  • armymp
    Posted on April 10, 2012 at 12:12am

    How cool would it be if you could pick the sounds your engine makes with the push of a button… electric, muscle car, motorcycle, chain saw, monster truck, space ship (think, “The Jetsons), music, etc.

    I guess someday there will be an app for that!

    Report Post »  
  • BannedByHuffpo
    Posted on April 10, 2012 at 12:09am

    Nothing excites the auditory canals like the feedback through a pair of glas-packs from a well-tuned, dual-exhaust, push-rod, overhead valve V8. Kinda like the sound my ‘67 Mustang makes.

    Report Post » BannedByHuffpo  
  • Stoic one
    Posted on April 9, 2012 at 11:52pm

    I as man that walks my dog every day; listening for cars is something done all the time wile on my quiet rural road. I do not like being startled by the silent ones; there are a couple on my street.

    And yes i also use my eyes.

    Report Post » Stoic one  
  • mobynowak
    Posted on April 9, 2012 at 11:33pm

    This reminds me of the atheists who “celebrate” Christmas because they want to get gifts too.

    Report Post »  
  • mobynowak
    Posted on April 9, 2012 at 11:32pm

    Screw them! I pay for the honor of having that sound with every drop of gasoline I buy. If the eco-snobs want to save the planet they‘ll have to sacrifice the sweet sound of RPM’s.

    Report Post »  
  • RightThinking1
    Posted on April 9, 2012 at 11:27pm

    I laughed when Harley tried to patent the sound of their motorcycles…..

    Report Post »  
  • JACKTHETOAD
    Posted on April 9, 2012 at 11:18pm

    This is just a guess, but on an Audi I’d say you can add another $1500 to $2000 for ‘standard equipment’ motor sounds. (I always liked balloons in my bicycle spokes. They sounded so much better than cards.)

    Report Post » JACKTHETOAD  
  • wifezilla
    Posted on April 9, 2012 at 10:46pm

    I agree with the Jetson’s car sound

    Report Post » wifezilla  
    • jzs
      Posted on April 9, 2012 at 11:03pm

      Maybe they should be required to have people running ahead, waving flags and blowing a horn like in the early days of automobiles. Or maybe people should look both ways before crossing the street.

      Report Post » jzs  
    • 13th Imam
      Posted on April 10, 2012 at 9:17am

      Just imagine

      JZS for Personal Responsibility, This is a first.

      Report Post » 13th Imam  
  • broker0101
    Posted on April 9, 2012 at 10:40pm

    If you ever heard the throat of my S4 Cabriolet, you’d understand exactly what Audi is trying to do here.

    Report Post » broker0101  
  • WhiteFang
    Posted on April 9, 2012 at 10:34pm

    There is nothing like the sound of a properly tuned, musical V-8 as in a ‘65 Shelby Cobra.

    Report Post » WhiteFang  
    • broker0101
      Posted on April 9, 2012 at 10:43pm

      Very, very few have ever heard that sound. As in a genuine, not reproduction, Shelby Cobra. If you have, Kudos.

      Report Post » broker0101  
    • WhiteFang
      Posted on April 9, 2012 at 11:03pm

      I have, and that rumble made for a unforgeable memory. I remember, and it was in 1965 and I was 21.
      I have never had the financial means to afford one but it is my favorite car of all time.

      Report Post » WhiteFang  
    • bpodlesnik
      Posted on April 10, 2012 at 8:55am

      Yeah there is. A properly tuned Vantage, Aventador, Supra, ZR1, GT3, 458 Italia, CCXR, and I could name plenty more.

      Report Post » bpodlesnik  
  • macpappy
    Posted on April 9, 2012 at 10:31pm

    I saw this movie already.

    Report Post » macpappy  
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