Cue the Engine Rumble

摘要

Christoph Meier, a sound engineer at Mercedes-Benz parent Daimler, spends much of his time trying to reduce the noise emitted by car engines. But for the carmaker's newer electric models, he's had to do the opposite: create sound. "People expect some exterior noise from a vehicle, because we all grew up with the 'vroom vroom' of combustion engines," says Meier, head of power-train acoustics at the automaker. Electric-car technology has come a long way during the past decade, with advances in battery capacity and range. But the cars emit almost no sound at low speeds, potentially posing a threat to cyclists and pedestrians. "If a silent electric vehicle knocks over an elderly person or a child, it's not worth the risk," says Neil King, an analyst with Euromonitor International in London. "It happens often enough in urban areas that people are stepping into the road without looking." Visually impaired people could be most at risk. They "could step right in front of a vehicle, and the driver would have no real chance to brake in time," says Gerhard Renzel, a traffic expert for the German association for the visually impaired.