All new models of the Electric and Hybrid cars sold in the European Union must now make fake noise under certain conditions starting from today as reported by BBC News. Acoustic Vehicle Alert Systems (dubbed as AVAS) should be installed in all the new four-wheeled vehicles and all existing cars by July 2021.
AVAS installed vehicles will make sound while traveling under 12 mph (19 kmph), or while reversing.
Need of AVAS?
Due to the unavailability of the internal combustion engines, electric vehicles make very less noise in comparison with gas-powered vehicles which makes them a threat to other road users particularly people who are blind or partially blind.
In a written letter to the British Parliament from November 2017, a charity organization Guide Dogs pointed to research that says electric and hybrid vehicles are 40 percent more likely to be involved in an accident which causes injury to a pedestrian.
What sound should be made?
Different vehicle makers will be able to choose what their AVAS should sound like but an EU Legislation says that the sound should be similar to (but not louder) than the traditional internal combustion engine.
The AVAS should also give walkers an idea of what the vehicle is doing by, for example, synchronizing with a vehicle’s speed.
Jaguar has already revealed what its I-Pace will sound like, and Nissan announced a concept vehicle back in 2017 that “sings” as it drives.
Not just EU, National Highway Traffic Safety Administration of the United States will require that all hybrid and electric vehicles create artificial noise by September 2020, although they’ll have to emit the sounds up to the slightly faster speed of 18.6 mph (29.93 kmph).
