Title: Synthetic engine noise generation for improving electric vehicle safety

Authors: Thomas Bräunl

Addresses: Renewable Energy Vehicle Project, The University of Western Australia, Crawley, Perth, WA, 6009, Australia

Abstract: Electric cars are commonly known not only to be environmentally friendly, but also to be very quiet. While a quiet car is generally a good thing, safety concerns have been raised that Electric Vehicles (EVs) may cause more frequent accidents involving pedestrians than Internal Combustion Engine (ICE) cars, as pedestrians may not notice an approaching EV. This paper conducts noise level measurement for EVs and ICE cars at different speeds. We then describe the implementation of a synthetic engine noise generator and examine its performance and its acceptance among drivers and pedestrians.

Keywords: battery-electric vehicles; REV; renewable energy vehicles; engine noise; sound generation; electric vehicles; vehicle safety; vehicle noise; noise measurement; noise levels; synthetic noise.

DOI: 10.1504/IJVS.2012.048531

International Journal of Vehicle Safety, 2012 Vol.6 No.1, pp.1 - 8

Received: 21 Jun 2011
Accepted: 11 Nov 2011

Published online: 31 Dec 2014 *

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