Turn Off VESS (Virtual Engine Sound System)

Maybe you should play loud rap music on your entertainment system.. that'll catch their attention..

 

Just signed up today. I tried unplugging the VESS but couldn't quite get a grip on it. Then I briefly considered pulling the entire nose cone before asking a friend of mine to see if he could reach it with his slightly smaller hands. He could reach it, but it was still hard to release until he used a pair of long-nose pliers and had it off within a few moments.
I've been driving around with that noise for 6 months and couldn't take one more minute of it! It's especially obnoxious when passing through gates and along fences and walls where the sound is magnified and reverberates.
The argument over the obnoxious noise generator making the car safer for idiots who choose to leap out in front of you without warning - well, they're going to do that anyway. Also, as anyone who has ever walked around a busy parking lot knows, the ambient noise level is so high that even the noise of an ICE car idling along is hardly heard if at all.

 

In town I find other Konas are easily identifyable over ambient noise, within about 10 metres. Not that I see many but it certainly is a distinct sound. I don't particulary like it either and usually switch it off on power-up.

 

Have you considered building a momentary switch circuit and tapping into the control wire with a pin, the other to a nearby ground? It could just hang into the fuse area to avoid cutting holes. Then you could join the club
I did confirm with my pal Eric that the wire is present on N-A spec Konas.

 

I’m enjoying my quiet ride with vess disconnected. My lady has her vess on and I can hear her coming from some distance and I still find it annoying. To me it sounds like a grinding bearing.

 

I considered wiring an RFID momentary switch into the wire loom just behind where it plugs into the sound generator. Then I could use a separate key fob remote to turn the VESS on and off just like when opening the doors. To do that will require gaining far greater working access to the front space behind the nose cone and I might have a plan for that. There is a black ABS flange anchored by four 10mm hex bolts. It's clipped to the painted nose section from below and I can't find any way to liberate it from above.
However there is still a way forward and that is to create an access opening by cutting away the center section, finishing the edges, then modifying the new "hatch" with small flanges on either side and a pull tab so it can be popped out and back in. I've done extensive fabrication with ABS plastic and it's really quite easy to make the job look "stock" unless under direct comparison, but even so, modifying a non-structural, cosmetic panel won't void any warranty. Even without installing an RFID switch, having a small direct-access panel would allow the box to be easily plugged back in for those times I might find myself idling through throngs of people during Mardi Gras (like, never).

 

The two connectors in that path are large ones that connect main harnesses together under the hood. Perhaps it's not a good idea to mess with those. The connector at the switch panel is the best choice by far as it's small and internal to the cabin. Perhaps you can have someone else remove it for you? The switch block itself is screwed in from the back, so it can't be just pulled out through the dash.

 

Since I don't have a Kona yet, I wasn't sure what this actually sounded like, so I had to go out and find some youtube videos that demonstrated it. And I can kind of get why people might not like it.

Still I would prefer the ability to choose different sounds rather than just disconnect. But I suppose anything that you pick would eventually become tiresome.

 

Are you still driving around with the two pieces not fully connected? I just unplugged mine (was also getting irritating). No message on the dash that it's not there, and no sound.. Ahhhh.. So quiet!
But I am concerned leaving it partially unplugged. It carries CAN bus signals and I could imagine it bumping against one of the contacts and causing issues with CAN communication in the rest of the car. Have you wrapped it with electrical tape yet?

 

How did you all manage with gas cars since forever? Were you wrapping your engines and exhaust pipes in sleeping bags and feather pillows to avoid the awful, awful noise of your engines? Or maybe you walked until you got an ev?

 

Haha! Gas cars have a different sound and feel to them. And it's a given. This artificial VESS sound that the Hyundai emits is actually loud in the cabin (and not a function of driving the car). If I couldn't hear it in the cabin, I'd be fine with it. Allegedly, my hybrid Avalon (and previous Prius V) also emits a sound when driving slow when the engine is off, but I never heard it.

 

I was part of an EV great drive event here in Vegas yesterday and saw/heard the Audi Etron. That VESS sounds very close to an actual engine. Weird!

I really don't hear the VESS to much in the Kona and when I hear it it doesn't bother me. It is kind of funny though that you can almost hear it more inside the car than on the outside.

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Haven't bothered because it's not easy to wrap the electric tape with my clumsy fingers.I don't want to knock something else getting frustrated. Have had the DTC scan done, no codes,the car doesn't care.I have left it partially connected.IF I find someone who can do it,I'll get them to do it for me.

 

I bought [German] ICE based on engine sound at idle, acceleration.NEVER into loud notes. Heard the Ioniq VESS ,didn't think it would be so annoying when actually owning the Kona electric. The eNiro only has a subtle bong sound, really didn't hear what we have as they drove up,or reversed.