The Sweet (Or Not) Sounds Of Electric Cars

Just when we thought that EVs and hybrids might begin to make our city streets quieter, Congress proposes legislation—so unlikely not to be passed—that would require electrics to announce their presence with an external noise source. Section 109 of this year’s Motor Vehicle Safety Act [ PDF here], reported out of the House Energy and Commerce committee in early July, requires new hybrids and EVs “to provide an alert sound” so that pedestrians, notably the blind, can hear them. Fortunately, it could take six years before we’re subjected to this, due to the creaky slowness of the bureaucracy. The secretary will have three years after the enactment of the transportation bill to issue the final rule, and “full compliance” won’t be required until September 1 or later of the calendar year that begins three years after the final rule is issued.

Meanwhile, Les Blomberg of the Noise Pollution Clearinghouse questions the logic behind the legislation. Imagine a world where even trucks and buses lose the noisy diesel engines in favor of hybrid or electric propulsion. This may well be where we’re going. And even if it is not, cars are becoming quieter. (In fact, today, the quietest ICE cars are so quiet as to be inaudible over the background din, says Blomberg.) In such a world, the background noise of traffic would dwindle to the point where the tires of moving EVs would become easily audible. In that world, noisemakers for EVs would be superfluous.

But now, the Motor Vehicle Safety Act would maintain the cacophony. In fact, the legislation directs the Secretary of Transportation to determine whether noisemakers are needed for ICE cars.