Renault is making its city delivery vehicles quieter. The firm has spent three years investigating ways to make trucks no louder than most cars. More deliveries are taking place at night to avoid traffic and truckmakers must reduce the noise from their vehicles so that residents can sleep in peace. Current legislation allows : truck with a power output of up to 150kW (200hp) to make 78dB of noise; trucks above 150kW can produce up to 80dB. A typical family car may emit 75dB. The European Commission tests vehicles unladen, but is planning to change the rules in the next few years. Vincent Sartre, Renault's Low-noise Urban Truck project manager, said: "We set out to reduce noise pollution by 3dB. We looked at active noise reduction in the exhaust line, but found passive solutions more cost-effective. The shielding can be made with different compounds depending on the frequency of the noise you want to absorb."
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