Making a noise for electric and hybrid vehicles

Concerns over the safety of super-quiet hybrid and electric cars do not seem to trouble the UK public, according to research from TheGreenCarWebsite.co.uk.

When visitors to the green car advisory website were asked, “Should the UK government introduce legislation to make it compulsory for manufacturers of electric and hybrid vehicles to add artificial noise for road safety purposes?”, 55 per cent replied “No”. While others thought it should be left to the manufacturer’s discretion, polling 16 per cent of the vote.

However a still respectable number of respondents felt that low noise was an issue, with 29 per cent responding “Yes”.

While the arguments for and against artificial noise rages, some counter that our cities and towns suffer from too much noise ‘pollution’ and modern electric engines would be a blessing for much needed peace and quiet.

However concerns have been raised for vulnerable groups such as children, blind people, cyclists and even wildlife. Although there has yet to be any conclusive research into how many accidents have been caused as a result of low-noise vehicles, concerns have been echoed as far up as the US Congress. A proposal, backed by the National Federation for the Blind, to make hybrid and electric vehicles issue a warning sound is currently under review. Research by the University of Cailfornia, Riverside reported that hybrid vehicles came 40 per cent closer to pedestrians than their combustion engine counterparts before they could detect their direction.

Sleighbells, were born out of similar concerns for safety and were attached to horse-drawn sleighs in winter to combat the silencing affect of heavy snow combined with the reduced visibility of long dark winters.

Similarly, our road conditions vary, the forthcoming darker days of winter may also influence popular opinion on the issue. Lotus has been one manufacturer to address the issue by releasing their artificial noise ‘Safe and Sound Hybrid’ technology last month.

Most electric vehicles have so far seen London and other big cities as their staple stomping ground being are ideally suited to city life. TheGreenCarWebsite.co.uk expects that as electric vehicle technology improves, electric cars will also become more widespread. In the future, hybrid vehicles could well conquer their main headache of their sizeable price tag and again more will sell. When these vehicles become more commonplace across the UK, the issue of safety will once again be raised, predicts TheGreenCarWebsite.co.uk.

“While our survey has shown that most people do not yet consider this to be an issue, we expect that pressure from safety groups will build and we could see a rush to add artificial noise to hybrid and electric vehicles in the near future” says Faye Sunderland of TheGreenCarWebsite.co.uk.

“It will be interesting to see if legislation is passed in the US to regulate the noise vehicles emit because then we can almost certainly expect a similar move here in the UK too.”