Electric cars are making a name for themselves as greener and quieter alternatives to gasoline-powered cars.
But it’s not too quiet.
Electric cars, which don’t have noisy internal combustion engines, are required to emit an artificial sound at certain speeds to warn pedestrians of approaching vehicles, but the exact sound the warning system makes is left to the discretion of the automaker.
Do you want a fighter jet roar? A spaceship revving? A classical piece of music? They’re all here on the road.
A newer field, “EV sound design is unexplored,” Glenn Pietila, a regulatory sound engineer at General Motors, told USA TODAY. “There’s a lot of different directions people are going in.”
Rules of the Road
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration says new electric and hybrid vehicles must make noise when traveling at speeds below about 20 mph to alert pedestrians to the vehicle’s location, speed and direction of travel before natural sounds such as tire and wind noise become louder as the vehicle speeds up.
“For pedestrians who are visually impaired, the sounds made by individual vehicles, as opposed to the general sounds made by traffic flow, are particularly important,” said NHTSA spokeswoman Lucia Sanchez.
Automakers have red lines they can’t cross: Tesla’s “Boombox” feature, for example, is no longer allowed to play loud sounds like ice cream truck bells, coconuts and farts while the car is moving, after US safety regulators warned that such sounds could drown out warning sounds for pedestrians.
Additionally, according to NHTSA, pedestrian warnings must meet minimum sound pressure levels and sound the same on all vehicles of the same make, model, year, body type and trim.
Otherwise, manufacturers are free to get creative.
Road noise
General Motors has different sounds for each of the automaker’s four core brands: Buick, GMC, Chevrolet and Cadillac.
Creative sound director Jay Kapadia and his team used a didgeridoo, an Australian wind instrument, and sounds recorded from the sun to create the electric Cadillac’s melody, while the electric GMC Hummer is louder and dirtier-sounding, “so you know it’s a big truck,” Pietila said.
“Both are compliant. You hear it, you know there’s a car there, you know there’s a car coming,” Pietila added, “but you also know what brand it is. Even if you can’t see it, you know it’s a luxury car, a Cadillac.”
In Dodge’s case, the Stellantis-owned automaker took inspiration from engines such as V8s when designing the sound of the Charger Daytona EV, with the car’s “Flattonic Chamber Exhaust” system intended to create a “deep resonance and visceral feel” similar to that of a traditional gasoline-powered muscle car.
“Our approach was familiarity and consistency,” Dodge brand manager Kevin Helman told USA Today, adding, “Sound adds synergy to the entire muscle car experience.”
Cameron Rogers, news manager for market research firm Edmunds, said it will be “really interesting” to see how automakers, especially high-performance makers like Dodge, approach acoustic standards.
“How do you convince a customer who’s happy with a 5-mpg car to switch to an EV,” he said, noting that a lack of intuition might hold some drivers back from driving an EV, “but something like this could definitely convince them.”
Hyundai Ioniq 5N drivers have the option of three soundscapes that can be played inside and outside the car: One theme simulates the sound of a four-cylinder internal combustion engine, another offers “high-performance sounds,” and the third is inspired by a twin-engine fighter jet, according to the company.
“The ultimate goal is to sound authentic, even if it’s not necessarily realistic,” says Taylor Marotta, senior noise, vibration and harshness engineer at the Hyundai-Kia America Technical Center. “This goal is borrowed from movie and video game sound designers. No one has ever seen a spaceship hurtling through space, but we need to make sure it sounds and feels right for the audience.”
Other automakers’ approaches to EV sound vary. BMW said on its website that it partnered with composer Hans Zimmer, whose films include “Dune” and “The Lion King,” to design sounds for its i4 electric sedan. Fiat said in a March news release that its 500e sings digital melodies at a constant speed to convey “a flavor of Italian culture.” And online forums have likened its hybrids’ backup alerts to spaceships and a choir of angels.
Thinking of buying an EV? Rivian has you covered.
Leslie Krieger, 51, of Fanwood, New Jersey, likened the backup sound in her 2024 Honda CRV Hybrid to a “heavenly choir.” The sound is loud enough to embarrass her teenage son when she drops him off at school, but she said she likes everything else about the car.
“When you’re backing up, there’s no question. There’s no question at all. You know I’m going to be there,” she said.
Honda spokesman Brad Nelson said the warning sounds on its electric and hybrid vehicles “meet or exceed regulations by reasonable margins, are appropriately durable for a wide range of environmental conditions and are offered at a reasonable cost to our customers.”
