“I mowed down a lady.”
I rode a Tesla for the first time a couple weeks ago, and the silence was eerie. They really do need some kind of sound effect. I wonder if its horn is a real horn, or a speaker with a synthesized horn sound? If the latter, seems like it already has the hardware to update the software to make sounds at low speeds. It could be like selecting a ringtone.
I don’t quite buy it. Most cars don’t make much noise at idle which is what you’d hear backing out of a parking space, or at least I don’t hear much. I look for the same thing I look for when I’m driving through a parking lot, the back-up lights.
When operating only on the electric motor in my old Prius I used to call it stealth mode. Was great for scaring the bejesus out of cyclists when approaching from behind.
What I’d want for my Tesla…
https://music.apple.com/us/album/warp-drive/62794874?i=62793099
If it would lower the insurance premiums, I would invest in one of these: https://d13ezvd6yrslxm.cloudfront.net/wp/wp-content/images/Mad-Max-Fury-Road-Coma-the-Doof-Warrior.jpg
“It could be like selecting a ringtone.”
Ooh, yes. 60’s Batmobile turbine for me.
I always thought the silence of electric cars could be an attraction for those that like to listen to things while they drive. As for those who like to listen to the rumble of a V8, manufacturers already add fake sound effects to their engines.
My job has me on roadsides near traffic quite often, I’ve seen and heard many Tesla’s drive past and they are not appreciably quieter than the average late model gas car because the majority of the sound generated by both is tire on asphalt noise, not engine noise.
It’s not in traffic that’s the issue; it’s when they’re going slow.
I’m guessing that whatever sounds a Tesla driver would select would be condescendingly obnoxious, maybe a little more of one or the other depending on the individual.
If I can’t choose between the Adam West Batmobile or the Jetsonmobile, I’m not interested.
My Bolt and that 500e both make a little noise whenever not in Park and moving less than 15 mph.
Sigh.
“that” = “Fiat”
One of the many, many things that GM’s engineers got right on the Chevy Volt (before the beancounters, politicians, and marketing types killed it)… it has two horns.
Slamming your fist in the middle of the steering wheel gives a satisfying “HONK!” just like you’d expect. But pressing a button on the tip of the turn signal lever generates a pleasant “Hey, don’t be scared, but I’m silently coming up next to you” trill. At low speeds, we use that second horn a lot for bicyclists, pedestrians, etc. Good design.
Yes, the user should select their low-speed supplemental noise like a ringtone, and … “Silence is not an option” 🙂