Electric vehicle warning sounds, anyone heard Tesla's yet?

[JSU]

Based on wikipedia, "50% of "quiet" vehicles must have the warning sounds by September 2019" in the US. I've seen the YouTube video showing the speaker grill under the nose of the Model 3 but with no speaker behind it yet. Has anyone actually heard Tesla's take on the warning sound since I would assume Tesla will have to put some sort of pedestrian warning sound in 50% of the cars they sell after Aug 31, 2019.

Or perhaps my source is incorrect:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electric_vehicle_warning_sounds

 

[bwilson4web]

Based on wikipedia, "50% of "quiet" vehicles must have the warning sounds by September 2019" in the US. I've seen the YouTube video showing the speaker grill under the nose of the Model 3 but with no speaker behind it yet. Has anyone actually heard Tesla's take on the warning sound since I would assume Tesla will have to put some sort of pedestrian warning sound in 50% of the cars they sell after Aug 31, 2019.

Or perhaps my source is incorrect:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electric_vehicle_warning_sounds

It was part of a great NHTSA and National Federation of the Blind attempt against the Prius in 2009:
http://hiwaay.net/~bzwilson/prius/Prius_Fatal_Accidents/prius_fatalities_2001_07.html

Their statistics were and remain suspect but there is something worse. The data suggests there is an "A" pillar vision problem. There is a bias between left and right turns and incidents when in clear, daylight weather, a Prius making a left turn killed a pedestrian in the cross walk. There is a mechanism that explains this.

The left "A" pillar is closest to the driver which means it blocks the widest angle compared to the passenger side "A" pillar. When making a left turn, the block arc actually becomes relatively stationary. Though we have binocular vision, each eye has a blind-spot. Block one eye and the other already doesn't see where a pedestrian might be standing or walking.

So a weak hypothesis that "noise" led to pedestrian deaths ignores a more realistic hypothesis that the size of an "A" pillar has a correlation to the left-turn bias of pedestrian accidents. All cars have "A" pillars and SUVs and pickups have especially large ones.

I am still pissed about this "noise" nonsense but it doesn't cost much. We are in an experiment that in a decade or more, someone may wake up and realize the noise makers are ineffective ... standing on a pile of dead bodies.

Bob Wilson

 

[bjrosen]

I just hope there is some degree of customization available, that it's not too annoying, and most importantly that it's not audible inside of the car. Silence is one of the best features of EVs, it's one reason that I've just bought a Model 3 because my Volt has sensitized me to engine noise, when it's on battery it runs around on little cat's feet but when it turns on it's engine you immediately hear the difference. The Volt's engine is actually extremely quiet by ICE standards but the total lack of noise in battery mode makes you hypersensitive to engine noise.

 

[David Green]

I just hope there is some degree of customization available, that it's not too annoying, and most importantly that it's not audible inside of the car. Silence is one of the best features of EVs, it's one reason that I've just bought a Model 3 because my Volt has sensitized me to engine noise, when it's on battery it runs around on little cat's feet but when it turns on it's engine you immediately hear the difference. The Volt's engine is actually extremely quiet by ICE standards but the total lack of noise in battery mode makes you hypersensitive to engine noise.

If you wanted a silent EV, why did you buy Model 3, which is one of the noisiest EV's on the road per Bjorn Nyland's testing? Shoot, a New Chevy Diesel pickup towing a 16K lb trailer is quieter then any Tesla cruising at 75 MPH on the freeway. I posted about this last week with the video showing the testing.

On the E-Tron you cannot hear the low speed warning(forward or reverse) inside the car at all unless the windows are open.

 

[bwilson4web]

why did you buy Model 3

Well we're a retired, elderly couple. My wife insists on louder TV and asks me to talk louder to her.

Having owned earlier generation cars and vans, vehicle noise is unimportant to us as long as we can still talk. On recent trips, my wife and I have talked in normal conversation levels . . . she likes that.

Bob Wilson

 

[bjrosen]

If you wanted a silent EV, why did you buy Model 3, which is one of the noisiest EV's on the road per Bjorn Nyland's testing? Shoot, a New Chevy Diesel pickup towing a 16K lb trailer is quieter then any Tesla cruising at 75 MPH on the freeway. I posted about this last week with the video showing the testing.

On the E-Tron you cannot hear the low speed warning(forward or reverse) inside the car at all unless the windows are open.

The Tesla wasn't noisy when I test drove it so I was surprised that it was noisier than my Volt when we took our first road trip last weekend. I've been driving a Volt for three years and I wanted to move on to a BEV. There is only one choice for a BEV in 2019, the Model 3. I don't commute because I have a home office so most of my driving is for road trips that we do every weekend. CCS cars are useless for road trips at the moment, most of the CCS chargers are 50KW and they have only one charger per location so if it's out of order or ICEd you'd be screwed. The Tesla SC network has excellent coverage in New England, there is a convenient SC at all the places that we go in Vermont, Maine, New Hampshire and Rhode Island so the Model 3 is a viable vehicle. I'm sure that at some point the CCS network will equal and then surpass the Supercharger network but there is no way of knowing when that will happen, my guess is that it will take five years. What's worse for the CCS network is that there is no easy way of knowing when or where they will be putting chargers, Tesla shows there planned locations on their map so for places that currently aren't accessible, the Canadian Maritimes for example, you have a good idea of when they will get coverage.

 

[David Green]

The Tesla wasn't noisy when I test drove it so I was surprised that it was noisier than my Volt when we took our first road trip last weekend. I've been driving a Volt for three years and I wanted to move on to a BEV. There is only one choice for a BEV in 2019, the Model 3. I don't commute because I have a home office so most of my driving is for road trips that we do every weekend. CCS cars are useless for road trips at the moment, most of the CCS chargers are 50KW and they have only one charger per location so if it's out of order or ICEd you'd be screwed. The Tesla SC network has excellent coverage in New England, there is a convenient SC at all the places that we go in Vermont, Maine, New Hampshire and Rhode Island so the Model 3 is a viable vehicle. I'm sure that at some point the CCS network will equal and then surpass the Supercharger network but there is no way of knowing when that will happen, my guess is that it will take five years. What's worse for the CCS network is that there is no easy way of knowing when or where they will be putting chargers, Tesla shows there planned locations on their map so for places that currently aren't accessible, the Canadian Maritimes for example, you have a good idea of when they will get coverage.

Interesting to read your CCS rant, just the opposite situation here on the west coast, leaving Seattle on any of the main roads out (South, North, or East) CCS chargers are much more dense than Tesla Superchargers. Right now Electrify America has as many active locations in WA state then does Tesla, and they also have 12 additional locations that have completed construction and are just awaiting commissioning. This is only Electrify America's Cycle 1 of 4, and already passed the Supercharger Network in this area, and now that Cycle 2 is getting started there are a dozen or so more stations slated for WA state bringing the total locations of EA chargers in WA to 40 compared to Tesla's 15 (with Tesla having ZERO under construction). Most of the EA stations have 150kW charging capability, and all of the Highway stations also have 350 kW for those that buy the Taycan. EA has also built some 50 kW stations in local areas that make sense, (Lynnwood, Redmond, Renton, Monroe) as for those of us with E-Tron know, on a 150 kW charger there is no way you can go eat lunch while the car is charging, as it only takes <30 minutes 10-90% SOC, not near enough time to order and eat. Shoot, I tried to just go get Subway on one stop, and the car was well past 80% before I could get back to it, sandwich in hand. Is there such a thing as charging too fast?

BTW, Tesla has been showing planned locations on their map for years, you better rub a lamp if you think those are real stations that are coming soon as Tesla has cut Capital Expenditures for 2019 in half compared to previous guidance (most of which is going to GF3, and new lines in Fremont). Tesla currently only has a handful of stations under construction in the USA and EA has over 200 currently under construction, not even comparable. Tesla had 7 years head start, and EA nearly caught them in most of the USA in just over 1 year, and EA is still accelerating their rollout.

 

[bjrosen]

EA is doing very little on the East Coast, they have three in MA and nothing in the rest of New England. There are plans for one in NH and one in ME but nothing else, nothing in Vermont, nothing in the White Mountains of NH, nothing in RI. Tesla has all of those places well covered.

 

[bwilson4web]

I was surprised that it was noisier than my Volt when we took our first road trip last weekend

Can you characterize the noise? . . . motor, air stream, tire

The only time I've had a noise problem was in a Prius about 10 years ago on a concrete road with grooves around Chicago. Some actually generated tones based upon speed (see "Musical roads") .

Bob Wilson

 

[David Green]

EA is doing very little on the East Coast, they have three in MA and nothing in the rest of New England. There are plans for one in NH and one in ME but nothing else, nothing in Vermont, nothing in the White Mountains of NH, nothing in RI. Tesla has all of those places well covered.

Without question Tesla still has more coverage in many low traffic volume areas, but here on the Left coast, the coverage is pretty good already, and improving weekly.

 

[bwilson4web]

Without question Tesla still has more coverage in many low traffic volume areas, but here on the Left coast, the coverage is pretty good already, and improving weekly.

Tesla still has a few advantages everywhere:

• Tesla integrates communication between the chargers and navigation to show how many SuperCharger stalls are in use while you are driving there.
• If there is a charging problem, Tesla supports both the vehicle and SuperCharger.
  • Last year my BMW i3-REx only got two charges out of three attempts in Manchester TN. The charger support team could reboot the stations but the problems persisted. There was no problem with the EVgo, EVpump stations.
  • My single, SuperCharger problem, Tesla could read both the charger and car log.
• Tesla does not push EV customers to buy their ICE vehicles.
  • The last Toyota dealer tried to sell me the wrong Gen-4 Prius hybrid so I bought a used BMW i3-REx for the same price.
• Tesla sells to customers in every State.

Bob Wilson

 

[bjrosen]

Can you characterize the noise? . . . motor, air stream, tire

The only time I've had a noise problem was in a Prius about 10 years ago on a concrete road with grooves around Chicago. Some actually generated tones based upon speed (see "Musical roads") .

Bob Wilson

It's tire noise. My Volt is very quiet when it's using battery and riding on it's summer tires, which are also Michelin low rolling resistance tires, on it's winter tires (Bridgestone Blizaks) it's about as noisy as the Tesla. This is probably the price we pay for having all seasons instead of summer tires.