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Electric cars are coming and they're quieter than combustion vehicles. I'll admit that sometimes I cross the street without looking too carefully because I don't _hear_ any cars coming. Probably lots of others do the same. But when lots of cars are electric, and quiet, those of us conditioned to listening
only are going to get run over. Like the bicycle noise generator mentioned earlier, electric cars need to generate noise, too. Perhaps it could be varied as a function of speed, load, light, indicators, or other various inputs.
(??) Yup, halfbaked, at least
http://ganns.com/Th...2002_0225/index.asp
Search for 'quiet' on the page. [galukalock, Oct 04 2004, last modified Oct 06 2004]
(??) One more
http://www.hfclette...rchives/jun_96a.htm
Same here. [galukalock, Oct 04 2004, last modified Oct 06 2004]
Faux Muscle Cars
http://www.halfbake...aux_20Muscle_20Cars
Another car idea involving sound effects [krelnik, Oct 04 2004]
(???) It should sound like this...
http://www.dailywav.com/0999/jetcar.wav
..Because it's...you know... a Future Car... [dbsousa, Oct 04 2004, last modified Oct 06 2004]
The RoadNotKill bumper
http://www.halfbake...om/idea/RoadNotKill
Might work on PayingNotAttention pedestrians.. [gardnertoo, Oct 04 2004]
Electric Sports Car, Fake Engine Sound
http://www.unpressa...e-engine-sound.html
Article on Fisker Automotive, who are considering doing this for the Fisker Karma. [jutta, Sep 11 2008]
"Safe and Sound" for Lotus hybrids
http://audos.blogsp...fake-noise-for.html
[jutta, Sep 11 2008]
Ford finally wakes up
https://web.archive...them-coming/6274339
rather late, Ford gets the message... [gtoal, Aug 09 2011, last modified Jul 31 2015]
[link]
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One solution might be to outfit the car with spoked wheels, and then lodge some of [jinbish]'s "HB Trading Cards"™ in the suspension. |
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That would be *horrible*!! |
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The whole reason that I would get an electric car would be that it was quiet! |
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If you can't hear it, then you don't deserve to live!
Decrease the surplus population!
Lower noise pollution!
Stop Shouting! |
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Maybe hood-mounted "pedestrian whistles" that are somewhat like those (alledgedly bogus) deer whistles? |
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I agree [walkerj] - some noise would be a good thing for electric cars because it could potentially save the lives of thousands of people and animals too!
When you are driving on country roads at night the only thing that warns animals lurking about is the noise of our vehicle - so what would you rather have - an electric car with a little bit of noise OR a really quiet car with a dead deer hood ornament??!! (Sorry - I get a little crazy when the subject of animals comes up. Road kill makes me sad for days) :( |
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They're currently researching this. I'll try to find a link. |
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Also, I've heard that on most newer cars, 90% of the noise comes from the tires anyway. |
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Perhaps a law requiring all such cars to have enormous subwoofers which loop "Baby Got Back"? |
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No, they need to project the sound of a well tuned-up muscle car so driverS can feel like they have a thundering V-8 under the hood. VROOM! VROOM! |
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Then you'd have a "Faux Muscle Car". (see link) |
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What a great idea...now if only they could make an electric car that had all the noise and twice the emmisions of a regular car...that'd really piss off those treehuggers...i'd drive one |
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HAVE YOU EVER HEARD OF A HORN!
serioulsy |
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kasey, HAVE YOU EVER HEARD OF LEAVING A IDEA ALONE AFTER 5 MONTHS IF YOU HAVE NOTHING GOOD TO SAY!! |
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this is a good idea, i believe. In my quiet road I confess that I rarely stop and look before crossing [yes, i know, stupid], because I can always hear the cars. |
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If they were electric, then I wouldn't be able to hear them. Of course, I could always use my eyes |
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The obvious solution here is to require electric cars to have a soft bumper designed to harmlessly deflect pedestrians. |
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...or the RoadNotKill bumper (linky) |
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Electric car dashboards should come with a slider that says "Off - chop - mix - blend - puree" (they make different noises) |
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How about a sound emitter that is subsonic and produces a feeling of unease or nausea in potential roadkill (human and fourlegged), but still be 'silent' ? |
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Why have a noise producing googaw when you could drive secure in the knowlege that anyone walking in front of your car would feel the sudden nausea and stop in their tracks. |
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Siren research has developed methods of producing piercing sounds in a very narrow beam. This might work as well while not disturbing passengers in the vehicle or pedestrians on the sidewalk. |
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For suburban use, you could use the Ice Cream Truck method of blaring really bad music to repel pedestrians. |
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IMHO anything by Kenny G would work fine. |
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This should be mandatory on electric bicycles. The buggers make almost no noise, and they're surprisingly quick ..... worst of all, they're often ridden by older people with poor eyesight, slow reaction times, and a "hey, I'm old, I've had my life, what do I care ?" attitude to pedestrians. |
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The noise should probably be a muted Brrrrrrrrrrr noise like a small, well-silenced two stroke, rising in pitch and volume as the speed of the bike increases, instead of a very faint whirring and humming followed by a thump on the elbow from the handlebars. |
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With electric conversions at least, the thing does make a noise, but it's ultrasonic. The electric motor only has one power setting from the battery. To acheive different levels of power, the motor is switched on and off thousands of times a second. Slow it down a little and you have a warning sound that is plenty loud enough. |
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I already posted this idea, and it was deleted cuz this idea already exists. |
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You think you're so cool... being as smart as me but a few years earlier. |
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Electric bicycles are just like their unpowered counterpoints, silent. If you get hit by an electric cycle, _because it's silent_, then you are merely fulfilling your destiny to be an idiot. |
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it was just suggested, in the office kitchen, that people would customise their electric car's sound much like their phone ringtone. So you'd get cars driving along making all sorts of weird annoying sounds. e.g. barking, ribbiting, alien spaceship takeoff effects sampled off the tv, "vroom" being spoken in a bored voice, icecream-van jingles etc... |
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//"natural selection"// no. Unless you consider human technology as a 'natural' occurence. |
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Homo Sapiens wasn't really designed to continually search for fast-moving automobiles in all directions. Millions of years of natural selection did *not* prepare us for that. Look at how many critters get run over: critters that under any other circumstance can literally run rings around human beings. |
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Near or on a roadway I'll take all the cues I can, thanks. |
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[edit: I just read where Google's driverless car caused an accident: |
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a) How is the driverless car programmed to respond if a child runs out from between two parked cars, but the car is blocked from moving over into the next lane by another car ? |
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b) what if it's a beachball ? |
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c) would whoever it was in Nevada that decided to allow driverless cars on the road please report to the nearest organ bank for redistribution, thankyou.] |
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