Tesla Model S production now hits 500 units a week.

Zero Motorcycles sales should benefit from extension of tax credit for another year.

Ford C-Max Hybrid: 3,182 units were sold in October 2012.

Lufthansa equipped Airbus A320 with L-3 Communications electric main landing gears for ground handling trials.

NEWS

WED

09-Jan-2013

PHOTO CAPTION: Tesla Model S electric sedan will benefit pedestrians and drivers alike with addition of alert sounds at low speeds.

Silent Electric Cars A 'National Nightmare'?

Whoever wrote Tom Gara's headline about regulatory issues of giving electric cars a safety sound when traveling at low speeds, thinks the quietness of EVs is a 'national nightmare.'

One of the nice things about electric cars, reviewers often mention, is they are blissfully quiet; freed from the need for an internal combustion engine exploding chambers of gasoline thousands of times every minute, they tend to make minimal amounts of noise.

They’re so quiet, in fact, that it can be a problem — a problem big enough that federal regulators have stepped in with a plan (PDF) to make the cars play a sound of their own. Pedestrians — visually impaired ones especially, but also those blessed with fine eyesight — often hear an oncoming vehicle without seeing it. By being so eerily quiet, electric cars pose a safety risk, so the logic goes.

That’s why the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has published this list of proposed sounds that electric vehicles should make. Have a listen — it’s what the future sounds like!

Article Views: 1346

READ COMPLETE ARTICLE >>

IMPORTANT NOTICE: To read this Wall Street Journal news story, click the READ COMPLETE ARTICLE link above. This will launch a separate window to the original news source. To comment on this story use the Reader's Comment form below.

RELATED NEWS ITEMS

ABB to Build Out Estonian EV Charging Network

Grand EV Visions Coming Out of NAIAS 2012

Electric Cars in China to be Sales Tax Free

READER COMMENTS

ADD YOUR COMMENTS BELOW

Posting comments is restricted to our FREE and PREMIUM subscribers. Once you log in, allowing us to implant a security cookie on your browser, the comment form will appear. To become a free BASIC subscriber, sign up here. We will not spam you or sell your email, and you'll receive our Weekly Brief email newsletter. You then will be permitted to post comments.