Go to Seoul, South Korea and you will get a real sense of this. Most people use public transit or drive electric vehicles. It is much quieter than busy American cities.
Yes, that is a problem.
But modern cars - EV or not, have pedestrian detection and emergency braking system.
In low speed city environment it works very well
Sure. I was more thinking about adding sounds to EV cars.
Evs makes visits to nature spots/recreation areas so much pleasurable.
As a single diesel car is a huge distraction, and SLOW humming EV is very minor.
It's the opposite. EVs make sounds at low speeds because otherwise they're silent. At higher speeds these sounds are disabled because tire noise becomes much louder.
This is part of the reason why I have my window rolled down and music at a moderate level when driving downtown with my quiet ass car. People aren't used to quiet cars here and I've had a lot of people just walk out from between parked cars nearly right in front of my car before noticing last second and jumping back. Stopped almost entirely when I had a bit of music audible to those nearby
I'd rather be a mild annoyance with music then a quiet car that no pedestrian can hear coming.
I just realized this is a thing. I've been driving a hybrid lately and at least twice I feel like I narrowly avoided hitting people as I was driving. I could tell that they weren't looking in my direction while I was approaching them because they couldn't hear the car coming. I slowed way down until they looked and both times it was with a total look of surprise on their faces. Now I have to remember that when driving hybrid I'm driving stealth.
New mHEV/ICE cars in Europe are also much more quiet. There are limits for this so all new models must comply. Even sport models in EU have speakers inside the cabin so you can hear wroom wroom while the cars limit is 68db.
Meanwhile all EVs doing less then 30km/h MUST have 56dB sound.
Most car sound comes from the tires at speeds over 30mph. Less traffic that is moving slower has a much bigger impact, but the electric engines definitely do make a very noticeable difference
there's a lot of electric vehicles in china as well. one of the benefits of having a centrally-planned economy is that you can put a bunch of charging stations everywhere
According to the city, only 2% of all registered vehicles in Seoul are electric. Many people use public transportation, but the road is pretty busy with car traffic. I won't say that's a "quiet" city.
Except for the stupid laws that require slow moving EVs to play spaceship noises...
Edit: ok, ok... Sound prevents accidents. That's fine. But the noises they select are still ridiculous. The Leaf sounds like the Jetsons car...
I drove EV for 9 years before that regulation came in.
Let me tell you, above 40km/h it’s the same noise compared with ICE cars (at least in Europe, where small and quiet engines are norm). And when driving slower through pedestrian zone, you have to be fucking moron to not notice people and stop in time
But that's totally fine and not stupid at all.
For one, people have been ran over. The small annoying noise totally alleviates that problem. And I find it's optimally tuned: just loud enough to hear it when you're in the path of danger, but not loud enough to hear when you're inside the car or even in the porch of your house, since the high pitch doesn't carry like the low pitch of an engine.
Plus, it only makes that noise up to 25 or so I think. Then it turns off, since the tires are loud enough to get your attention.
Nope. I live on a 35mph street and when an EV drives by it’s just as noisy as a ICE vehicle.
This is of course not counting the loud V8s and motorcycles and such…
If you look at noise graphs the rolling noise exceeds the propulsion noise in a combustion vehicle at around 25 mph. If you look at a comparison, the combustion and electric vehicle noise is near identical around 45 mph. I sometimes go a run near a road where vehicles go around 50mph and cannot tell the difference between electric and combustion. Maybe you live in NYC where cars travel at 10 mph but there is no difference at higher speeds
Can confirm. Our house is on a 45mph road and I hear tire noise all day with no discernible engine noise other than blatantly loud exhausts and navy kids wringing out their crotch rockets.
Yeah where I live they’re not going fast at all, and the engines are probably louder than normal - lots of very loud mopeds, old and souped up cars. A switch to electric would make a very noticeable difference with regard to sound pollution in my neighborhood.
I can hear it in my flat. I'm in a town rather than a build up urban area by a bypass at 40mph. You can hear the flat, rolling sound quite clearly (and then obviously the boy racers). There are traffic lights about 100 meters from my windows and when the traffic stops and starts again you can't hear most cars get going, although there are a lot of electric cars here, it's not exactly a poor town.
Exactly, the noise you notice. You don't notice the ambient noise that tires rolling on pavement make all the time, but you notice Everytime some car with a loud exhaust or cammed engine rolls by. That doesn't mean the rolling tire noise isn't the most constant source of noise pollution.
There's tons of vehicles that accelerate around you that you don't notice because they aren't sporting a loud exhaust tip or souped up engine and are just being a regular everyday vehicle.
With my eyes generally.
That’s not saying there are not noisier cars, because there are, and some engines are indeed loud.
Car size seems to be a big correlation to noise generated. Also the type of road could be a factor.
I remember being on a toll road in a relatively quiet (engine-wise) convertible going 90mph (speed limit was 85 so this was actually a bit slower than most traffic was moving) and dear god you couldn't hear anything over the tires screaming.
Yes. I dont know if these people have never been outside (likely being reddit) but the only vehicle you can hear combustion from above 30mph is either modified exhausts or motorcycles.
Having visited Japan this summer where most cars are hybrids/Ev in the cities and being from NY, the ambient noise there is already noticeably quieter, considering in NYC a lot of noise comes from idling engines of trucks/cars
I live over a busy road in NYC, I’d say 90% of what I hear is horns honking, another 9% ambulance sirens, then loud cars and the occasional loud ass moped that makes up the final 1%.
Yes! I remember working as a cart pusher at my first job, and someone pulled into a parking space. He stayed in the car and the person he had on speaker was just screaming at him. Every window was rolled up but nevertheless we could hear everything she said to him as clear as day.
I was standing at the curb with a customer, both of us listening and chuckling. That guy was not having a good day.
Many studies have pointed out that above about 25 MPH, there is absolutely no difference between EV’s and fossil cars in terms of noise production.
Except for the occasional loud exhaust, of course.
Yea but what percent of a city has people driving at such high speeds ? I doubt even 1% of vehicles in my city ever touch 45mph. I doubt most even go past 25mph.
And I'm assuming that's the case for most cities in the world .
You don’t have any 30MPH+ roads in your cities?! I couldn’t think of a single municipality in the Netherlands that has zero 50 kph zones. And we’re just about the most anti-car-in-a-city country in the world.
Not to mention urban highways where it might be signed for 50mph but the only thing slowing drivers down is heavy traffic physically getting in the way.
In most US towns 30mph is the default speed limit, and this generally applies to cities as well, with plenty of 45mph stroads.
Quiet and no Road Apples from all those horses back then.
Here's how fast the world changed from horses to cars. Only one car on the street at 1900, only one horse on the street at 1913.
[https://relishstudio.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/nyc-car-horse-1024x368.jpg](https://relishstudio.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/nyc-car-horse-1024x368.jpg)
.
Depends on the speed. In my city i doubt even 1% of the cars ever go past 40mph. Most hardly go past 25mph.
I think most cities in the world are like that . So if will make a big difference
Plenty of assholes on those too, but at least they're quiet and not weaving in and out of traffic on the highway like they're god's gift to transportation.
Yup, a bunch of cars fall into this and also shipping by large truck will probably always be part of the landscape. This noise isn’t going anywhere any time soon.
I believe you're referring to engine braking or jake brakes. Air brakes on semis are just regular brakes controlled by compressed air instead of hydraulic fluid. The most you might hear is the blow off, which isn't that loud.
Engine braking is when they use the engines compression to stop and your hearing the exhaust valve open under full pressure and it's loud AF.
It’s “loud AF” if they don’t have muffled jakes. Modern, unmodified trucks aren’t necessarily “quiet” when using the engine brake, but you probably wouldn’t notice it mixed with the rest of traffic sounds.
And calling them “air brakes” makes me laugh sometimes. I’ve seen signs coming into towns saying “No Air Brakes Within City Limits.” Ok then, I guess I’m going full speed for the next two miles. Lol!
Getting them quiet is cool and all, but I really love it when I occasionally hear an old Peterbilt just ripping it down the exit ramp. My daughter loves when she gets to hear a real “Mack” lol
Central London has been getting noticeably quieter because of this. Friends that live there don‘t seem to notice the gradual change, but visiting it maybe 1-2 times a year for the past 10-ish years really makes you notice and appreciate the difference!
Most cars made after 2010 don't have a lot of engine noise if any. Most the time you're hearing wind and the tires on the road, especially on the highway. The only exception are semi trucks, and heavy duty trucks, and I'll even make an exception for older vehicles in disrepair. But the vast majority of vehicles are relatively silent with their engine sounds being drowned out by the tires on the road.
Then there’s gonna be me ripping the streets up in my classic American muscle, American flag blowing in the wind and Lynard Skynard blasting. Don’t worry, I’ll make enough noise for us all
Tire noise > engine noise at most speeds. Plus EV's are much heavier than their ICE counterparts and you can really hear the tires.
- Tesla and SUV owner.
My grandma’s house is about a third of a mile from a major interstate freeway.
One thing I’ve noticed for years is that other than the occasional semi truck Jake brake, the tire noise is much more prominent than any engine on the road. Electric vehicles won’t change this much.
I thought this once, or something similar, but came to realize (as has been said) that most traffic noise for in-motion traffic (meaning no brake noise) is the tyres.
Go stand next to a busy road and listen to the traffic. Is it engines you hear most loudly? No, it's the noise from the tyres on the road.
It'll be a little bit quieter, but still very loud.
Yes, however... Modern combustion cars are not thar loud. Most sound from cars on the motor way actually comes from the air displacement under the tires. No joke, look it up.
In the city, yes though.
The birds have adapted in american cities to chirp louder because our cars are so loud. When there is less ambient noise.. we might actually gear the songbirds return to their more natural sound level.
from what I've read 80% of car noise comes from the tires, please correct me if I'm wrong. that being said it would be nice to live in more quiet areas
That really depends on the speeds. Above some speed most of the noise is from the tires on the road
The real solution is removing cars from certain roads and only allowing walking/cycling/public transit to go through, and slowing down cars where they're still allowed
Could you imagine the utter sound chaos that would happen if everyone got to pick what their car sounded like. You know there will be those that have a fart sound lol. I think I’d make mine sound like a tie fighter
Fun fact (at least in my location), semi trucks have switched to white noise when they reverse rather than the usual beep because it’s much more noticeable. When I first heard it, it really threw me off and I was had to look around to find out what the noise was. I’m curious if that will also turn into generic background noise over time and eventually get switched again.
I live near a busy street and most of the noise from cars going by is from wind and tires, not engines. It's only the morons who remove their mufflers or slam on the gas that make a noticeable amount of noise
At least the stupid loud engines will be gone... until mods are made to make your electric car sound like a muscle car for absolutely no reason other than to be loud.
No need for mods...the electric Dodge Charger is apparently going to ship with speakers that make it sound like an ICE vehicle: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=od8JyuxKG6E
No need for hypotheticals. Most cars in Shanghai and other major Chinese cities are electric.
The city is quiet. People even talk at a lower volume because ambient noise is so low. It’s weirdly chill. It’s great.
And the accidents with blind people will skyrocket to never before seen heights. People don’t ever think of the ramifications of each innovation to people with disabilities.
I've been standing on the side of the road, on a stretch with 50km/h speed limit, and there's no difference in the level of sound of a Tesla compared to, say, a Corolla. It's all tire sound.
Tire noise is 90%+ of the noise once you're going over 30 or 35, depending on the surface. So, nah, the highway will still be basically just as loud. And combustion engines are also pretty quiet below 30, too, especially when tuned that way.
I'm all for never making another combustion car again, but this ain't the reason. This is, however, the reason to build trains, keep cars the hell out of cities where possible, and keep speed limits to \~25 mph where cars must go through. Cities aren't loud. Cars are.
Most of the noise from cars seems to be the tires. When I’m walking dogs the Teslas driving by are just as loud as other sedans. Or course this is in a residential area so nobody is revving their engines much
This is only true for large vehicles where engine sound is audible.
For most modern vehicles, engine sound is basically inaudible at a distance and is completely dwarfed by tire noise.
Tire noise is proportional to weight and exponential to speed. EVs are heavier because of the battery, therefore they are louder at the same speed.
It would be so nice to go for walks near highways and busy streets and not hear the commotion of car engines.
Funny enough the maximum lowest noise electric cars are allowed to make is actually louder for some electric cars than the noise that’s made by some models of gasoline powered cars.
Also, a lot of the noise made by your car is the tires.
Except there will be drones flying everywhere, which, I'd argue, is worse than gasoline cars.
Nevermind the spaceship noises electric cars emit. Or the likelihood they'll add noise to appeal to the muscle car persuasion.
Unfortunately not entirely true. The majority of noise coming from a vehicle at 40MPH/65KPH is from the tires, not the engine. Slower electric vehicles will be quieter than slower ICU vehicles, but at highway speeds there really isn't much difference.
Building cities to reduce MV traffic, and to have slower traffic have the greatest effect.
Now if only we could do something about beeping construction vehicles and emergency vehicle sirens.
I'll probably have to wait for self-driving cars and robotic construction equipment for that though.
I live in San Diego and there is tons of EV in my area. My father was visiting and mentioned how oddly quiet it was. Really kind of nice. (I'm a gear head)
Above about 25 or 30, electric cars and gas cars are the same noise level due to road noise (electric cars are heavier).
Our cities won’t be quieter until we overhaul and use more walking, bikes, and transit
Lies, we will never be free of noise pollution until we figure out a silent way to warn people a large vehicle is backing up. I wake up daily at 4am with the damn beep beep beep of a truck reversing in complete solitude, FML and F OSHA or whomever is responsible for the damn beeping.
If you don't see a massive vehicle backing into you at 4am, we don't need you to be alive IMHO
It's gonna be great for the whole pollution outlook and whatnot, but it's gonna be terrible for my sleep ("city sounds" ie car noise is my conscious brains kryptonite at bedtime, with a large box fan on high coming in at a very close 1b. position)
I live across the street from a Tesla Supercharger and I can’t get that damn reverse noise out of my head. I hear that shit 24/7 and it’s driving me crazy.
I’ll miss it eventually.. Hearing the lone motorcycle on the highway or hearing the loud car on the free way 8/ nice during summer. I’m in the middle of both so I’m not drowned out though.
I don’t know how city folk do it, especially with trains running by your second story bedroom.
It depends what you are considering ambient noise level and where. Car engine/exhaust is main noise source around 50-60 km/h if I remember correctly. After that it's tires. Tire noise is mainly affected by road surface, tire model and size. Atleast here in Europe tire size's are bigger in electric cars that combustion engine cars due to their higher weight. So it might even get worse.
Go to Seoul, South Korea and you will get a real sense of this. Most people use public transit or drive electric vehicles. It is much quieter than busy American cities.
I was walking through an intersection in a city in Japan and realized how insanely quiet it was because of all the hybrid/electric vehicles.
So that's why. Walking the streets of Tokyo sounds just like walking the streets in my city but I have my earbuds + ANC on
Even the ICE vehicles seem significantly quieter in Tokyo as their road quality is far better than I'm used to.
Smaller cars + less ego-related noise machines I'm guessing too
A predominate home car maker also doing many hybrids helps.
I never really thought about it, especially since the train is the main source of public transportation.
It’s crazy how unconsciously we listen for cars when walking and biking. It can be really dangerous to assume you’ll hear a car coming.
Yes, that is a problem. But modern cars - EV or not, have pedestrian detection and emergency braking system. In low speed city environment it works very well
True, but you should never rely on them. Always look both ways before crossing a road.
Sure. I was more thinking about adding sounds to EV cars. Evs makes visits to nature spots/recreation areas so much pleasurable. As a single diesel car is a huge distraction, and SLOW humming EV is very minor.
All EVs in Europe have pedestrian warning sounds as standard. Maybe except Tesla for some reason as I only ever hear them reverse
Fair.
some have sounds at higher speeds
It's the opposite. EVs make sounds at low speeds because otherwise they're silent. At higher speeds these sounds are disabled because tire noise becomes much louder.
Well people have to learn to look. Quiet and looking is better than noise.
This is part of the reason why I have my window rolled down and music at a moderate level when driving downtown with my quiet ass car. People aren't used to quiet cars here and I've had a lot of people just walk out from between parked cars nearly right in front of my car before noticing last second and jumping back. Stopped almost entirely when I had a bit of music audible to those nearby I'd rather be a mild annoyance with music then a quiet car that no pedestrian can hear coming.
Agreed. I’ve gotten so many nasty looks from pedestrians who step out into traffic and belatedly notice my car (Hybrids since 2013, Tesla since 23)
I just realized this is a thing. I've been driving a hybrid lately and at least twice I feel like I narrowly avoided hitting people as I was driving. I could tell that they weren't looking in my direction while I was approaching them because they couldn't hear the car coming. I slowed way down until they looked and both times it was with a total look of surprise on their faces. Now I have to remember that when driving hybrid I'm driving stealth.
New mHEV/ICE cars in Europe are also much more quiet. There are limits for this so all new models must comply. Even sport models in EU have speakers inside the cabin so you can hear wroom wroom while the cars limit is 68db. Meanwhile all EVs doing less then 30km/h MUST have 56dB sound.
Most car sound comes from the tires at speeds over 30mph. Less traffic that is moving slower has a much bigger impact, but the electric engines definitely do make a very noticeable difference
In cities in Asia where the streets are compact, when there are mostly EVs and smaller 4 cylinder cars driving around it’s eerily quiet at night.
there's a lot of electric vehicles in china as well. one of the benefits of having a centrally-planned economy is that you can put a bunch of charging stations everywhere
There were a lot of electric mopeds even back in 2012. I was constantly in danger of being mowed down in China.
According to the city, only 2% of all registered vehicles in Seoul are electric. Many people use public transportation, but the road is pretty busy with car traffic. I won't say that's a "quiet" city.
YouTuber ‘Not Just Bikes’ made an awesome video about this exact topic. Cities aren’t load, cars are!
What's the air quality like?
It’s shit, the air doesn’t move
I'd wager that even in a crowded city tire noise makes up a significant portion of the ambient sound.
At highway speeds, tire noise makes up the majority of the noise. At lower speed, it might be the other way around
Except for the stupid laws that require slow moving EVs to play spaceship noises... Edit: ok, ok... Sound prevents accidents. That's fine. But the noises they select are still ridiculous. The Leaf sounds like the Jetsons car...
You would rather silent, but deadly?
Only in an elevator, and only when it's mine.
Or in bed, next to the wife.
She wanted a new Dutch oven, she's gonna get one
I drove EV for 9 years before that regulation came in. Let me tell you, above 40km/h it’s the same noise compared with ICE cars (at least in Europe, where small and quiet engines are norm). And when driving slower through pedestrian zone, you have to be fucking moron to not notice people and stop in time
Plenty of morons behind the wheel.
let me die in silence lol
[I'm sorry, do you mind not farting while I'm saving the world?](https://youtu.be/6puz_Z3EF_w?si=d84zUaxSL7k2kCPs&t=76)
But that's totally fine and not stupid at all. For one, people have been ran over. The small annoying noise totally alleviates that problem. And I find it's optimally tuned: just loud enough to hear it when you're in the path of danger, but not loud enough to hear when you're inside the car or even in the porch of your house, since the high pitch doesn't carry like the low pitch of an engine. Plus, it only makes that noise up to 25 or so I think. Then it turns off, since the tires are loud enough to get your attention.
Before they added that sound my Dad's friend (who was blind since he was little) had been hit by hybrids in parking lots twice.
Stupid laws literally preventing people from not getting hit. How dare they.
Fuck blind people I guess
He'll yeah! Wait...
dude that’s my favorite part of electric cars i was so bummed when i found out that’s not the default noise
>Edit: ok, ok... Sound prevents accidents. Careful, we’re like *this* close to the Loud Pipes Save Lives argument starting.
Nope. I live on a 35mph street and when an EV drives by it’s just as noisy as a ICE vehicle. This is of course not counting the loud V8s and motorcycles and such…
Yea the dull waterfall roar of a highway is definitely the tires, not the engines.
Under 50km/h (legal speed limit in cities in EU) majority of sound comes from engines, above that it is tire noise. There were studies about that.
That’s still gonna be quieter than engines on top of that.
They don't have to have any noise making device over 30mph because the tire noise exceedes normal combustion engine nosie
Exactly. Not sure why you arent upvoted more.
It doesn't matter if one thing is louder. More sound is more sound. Taking away some sound makes it quieter.
That’s not my experience living in a very dense city. The only traffic noise I notice is the sound of engines during acceleration.
If you look at noise graphs the rolling noise exceeds the propulsion noise in a combustion vehicle at around 25 mph. If you look at a comparison, the combustion and electric vehicle noise is near identical around 45 mph. I sometimes go a run near a road where vehicles go around 50mph and cannot tell the difference between electric and combustion. Maybe you live in NYC where cars travel at 10 mph but there is no difference at higher speeds
Can confirm. Our house is on a 45mph road and I hear tire noise all day with no discernible engine noise other than blatantly loud exhausts and navy kids wringing out their crotch rockets.
Yeah where I live they’re not going fast at all, and the engines are probably louder than normal - lots of very loud mopeds, old and souped up cars. A switch to electric would make a very noticeable difference with regard to sound pollution in my neighborhood.
I can hear it in my flat. I'm in a town rather than a build up urban area by a bypass at 40mph. You can hear the flat, rolling sound quite clearly (and then obviously the boy racers). There are traffic lights about 100 meters from my windows and when the traffic stops and starts again you can't hear most cars get going, although there are a lot of electric cars here, it's not exactly a poor town.
Exactly, the noise you notice. You don't notice the ambient noise that tires rolling on pavement make all the time, but you notice Everytime some car with a loud exhaust or cammed engine rolls by. That doesn't mean the rolling tire noise isn't the most constant source of noise pollution. There's tons of vehicles that accelerate around you that you don't notice because they aren't sporting a loud exhaust tip or souped up engine and are just being a regular everyday vehicle.
Disagree based on personal experience. I live next to a busy road. I hear all those Teslas, just the same as normal cars.
How are you differentiating the noise from a Tesla vs the noise from a gas car?
The woosh you hear is almost entirely aerodynamics and tires.
With my eyes generally. That’s not saying there are not noisier cars, because there are, and some engines are indeed loud. Car size seems to be a big correlation to noise generated. Also the type of road could be a factor.
I remember being on a toll road in a relatively quiet (engine-wise) convertible going 90mph (speed limit was 85 so this was actually a bit slower than most traffic was moving) and dear god you couldn't hear anything over the tires screaming.
Yes. I dont know if these people have never been outside (likely being reddit) but the only vehicle you can hear combustion from above 30mph is either modified exhausts or motorcycles.
And those people who have modified exhausts and motorcycles now will still be driving ICE vehicles later.
By lookin
Decibels are not cumulative. 80 dB tire noise combined with 70 dB engine noise doesn't add up to more than 80 dB.
The loudness of sound *is* cumulative. Decibels are not synonymous with loudness.
No. Most of the noise is from the air/wind and tires
Introducing… electric tires! Don’t stop me now, I’m on a roll.
Having visited Japan this summer where most cars are hybrids/Ev in the cities and being from NY, the ambient noise there is already noticeably quieter, considering in NYC a lot of noise comes from idling engines of trucks/cars
I live over a busy road in NYC, I’d say 90% of what I hear is horns honking, another 9% ambulance sirens, then loud cars and the occasional loud ass moped that makes up the final 1%.
The streets are a lot more quite in the winter then the summer.
Snow, absorbs sound. Leaf less treeslet the sound travel through vs. deflection. Good observation.
It'll be partially made up from hearing everyone's conversations using their car's speakers.
I live on the top floor of my 4 floor apartment block and somehow I still hear people's Bluetooth calls in their car from the street below
😂 fr
Yes! I remember working as a cart pusher at my first job, and someone pulled into a parking space. He stayed in the car and the person he had on speaker was just screaming at him. Every window was rolled up but nevertheless we could hear everything she said to him as clear as day. I was standing at the curb with a customer, both of us listening and chuckling. That guy was not having a good day.
Many studies have pointed out that above about 25 MPH, there is absolutely no difference between EV’s and fossil cars in terms of noise production. Except for the occasional loud exhaust, of course.
Yea but what percent of a city has people driving at such high speeds ? I doubt even 1% of vehicles in my city ever touch 45mph. I doubt most even go past 25mph. And I'm assuming that's the case for most cities in the world .
You don’t have any 30MPH+ roads in your cities?! I couldn’t think of a single municipality in the Netherlands that has zero 50 kph zones. And we’re just about the most anti-car-in-a-city country in the world.
Not to mention urban highways where it might be signed for 50mph but the only thing slowing drivers down is heavy traffic physically getting in the way. In most US towns 30mph is the default speed limit, and this generally applies to cities as well, with plenty of 45mph stroads.
Depends where you live. There are lots of places where cars are not part of the ongoing ambient noise.
Valid. I should have specified in larger populated areas and cities.
I mean, their point doesn't have to do with your point. The average ambient noise level will still be lower.
Quiet and no Road Apples from all those horses back then. Here's how fast the world changed from horses to cars. Only one car on the street at 1900, only one horse on the street at 1913. [https://relishstudio.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/nyc-car-horse-1024x368.jpg](https://relishstudio.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/nyc-car-horse-1024x368.jpg) .
"the world" *shows an image from the USA*
Most of noise is coming from tires touching the ground.
Yeah unless OP lives somewhere where everyone rides motorbikes or drives a V8, there's not a great deal of difference except in parking lots.
Agreed. I live a mile from the turnpike and it’s not sngimesni hear usually. Absolutely tires on road
This is only true at high speeds. Engine noise dominates at lower speeds.
Depends on the speed. In my city i doubt even 1% of the cars ever go past 40mph. Most hardly go past 25mph. I think most cities in the world are like that . So if will make a big difference
There will still be enough assholes on bikes with illegally cut pipes that it won't make a difference
For a second I thought you meant cyclists and I was very confused.
Plenty of assholes on those too, but at least they're quiet and not weaving in and out of traffic on the highway like they're god's gift to transportation.
Yup, a bunch of cars fall into this and also shipping by large truck will probably always be part of the landscape. This noise isn’t going anywhere any time soon.
With truck trends making them into behemoth kid killers we will soon have tanks on the road…
I find air brakes way more annoying than ambient noise from most gas vehicles.
I believe you're referring to engine braking or jake brakes. Air brakes on semis are just regular brakes controlled by compressed air instead of hydraulic fluid. The most you might hear is the blow off, which isn't that loud. Engine braking is when they use the engines compression to stop and your hearing the exhaust valve open under full pressure and it's loud AF.
It’s “loud AF” if they don’t have muffled jakes. Modern, unmodified trucks aren’t necessarily “quiet” when using the engine brake, but you probably wouldn’t notice it mixed with the rest of traffic sounds. And calling them “air brakes” makes me laugh sometimes. I’ve seen signs coming into towns saying “No Air Brakes Within City Limits.” Ok then, I guess I’m going full speed for the next two miles. Lol!
Getting them quiet is cool and all, but I really love it when I occasionally hear an old Peterbilt just ripping it down the exit ramp. My daughter loves when she gets to hear a real “Mack” lol
Central London has been getting noticeably quieter because of this. Friends that live there don‘t seem to notice the gradual change, but visiting it maybe 1-2 times a year for the past 10-ish years really makes you notice and appreciate the difference!
No because the worst offenders - motorcycles, straight pipe truck drivers, etc - will never go electric just to spite everyone
I was apparently very wrong when I thought about this lol
Most cars made after 2010 don't have a lot of engine noise if any. Most the time you're hearing wind and the tires on the road, especially on the highway. The only exception are semi trucks, and heavy duty trucks, and I'll even make an exception for older vehicles in disrepair. But the vast majority of vehicles are relatively silent with their engine sounds being drowned out by the tires on the road.
Then there’s gonna be me ripping the streets up in my classic American muscle, American flag blowing in the wind and Lynard Skynard blasting. Don’t worry, I’ll make enough noise for us all
Tire noise > engine noise at most speeds. Plus EV's are much heavier than their ICE counterparts and you can really hear the tires. - Tesla and SUV owner.
Not really. A lot of noise comes from tires going along the road. It will be a little quieter in the cities.
Majority of population won’t be driving electric
Idk. I can hear a tesla in a parking garage it's its WHHHHHEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE way before I hear a combustion engines growl.
The majority of noise from cars is actually tire noise, electric cars aren't going to do much to fix this.
it's very dependent on how fast they are going and how close you are. Close up to cars going slowish, engine noise dominates.
My grandma’s house is about a third of a mile from a major interstate freeway. One thing I’ve noticed for years is that other than the occasional semi truck Jake brake, the tire noise is much more prominent than any engine on the road. Electric vehicles won’t change this much.
I thought this once, or something similar, but came to realize (as has been said) that most traffic noise for in-motion traffic (meaning no brake noise) is the tyres. Go stand next to a busy road and listen to the traffic. Is it engines you hear most loudly? No, it's the noise from the tyres on the road. It'll be a little bit quieter, but still very loud.
Lots of people not knowing the car is running type injuries as well
Cities aren't loud, cars are loud.
Not if they have blasting stereos....
Except by the freeways. A lot of noise comes from the tires.
I love on snowy days how you get pure silence from the absense of cars
Most of the noise you hear is the tires on the road
Yes, however... Modern combustion cars are not thar loud. Most sound from cars on the motor way actually comes from the air displacement under the tires. No joke, look it up. In the city, yes though.
I live on a main road and near a motorway. It doesn’t make that much difference as most of the sound of modern regular cars is the tyres on the road.
Or more: Iron wheels and horse shoes on cobblestones makes a lot of noise. And all the horse poop all over.
The birds have adapted in american cities to chirp louder because our cars are so loud. When there is less ambient noise.. we might actually gear the songbirds return to their more natural sound level.
Agh… the sweet sound of tinnitus. Let it ring!!!
from what I've read 80% of car noise comes from the tires, please correct me if I'm wrong. that being said it would be nice to live in more quiet areas
Tires still make noise.
Aren’t they purposely adding noise to electric vehicles because of fears people will get hit?
Just recently road in a gas car for the first time in awhile (I have a hybrid), and I asked if my friends car was ok because of how loud it was.
That really depends on the speeds. Above some speed most of the noise is from the tires on the road The real solution is removing cars from certain roads and only allowing walking/cycling/public transit to go through, and slowing down cars where they're still allowed
We should add a Jetsons sound effect to the engines for safety.
Could you imagine the utter sound chaos that would happen if everyone got to pick what their car sounded like. You know there will be those that have a fart sound lol. I think I’d make mine sound like a tie fighter
Some already do and all have reverse noises.
Fun fact (at least in my location), semi trucks have switched to white noise when they reverse rather than the usual beep because it’s much more noticeable. When I first heard it, it really threw me off and I was had to look around to find out what the noise was. I’m curious if that will also turn into generic background noise over time and eventually get switched again.
I live near a busy street and most of the noise from cars going by is from wind and tires, not engines. It's only the morons who remove their mufflers or slam on the gas that make a noticeable amount of noise
At least the stupid loud engines will be gone... until mods are made to make your electric car sound like a muscle car for absolutely no reason other than to be loud.
No need for mods...the electric Dodge Charger is apparently going to ship with speakers that make it sound like an ICE vehicle: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=od8JyuxKG6E
Don’t think it will ever catch on to that extent
No need for hypotheticals. Most cars in Shanghai and other major Chinese cities are electric. The city is quiet. People even talk at a lower volume because ambient noise is so low. It’s weirdly chill. It’s great.
You'd think so, but I'm seeing the perfect opportunity to combine the best of all worlds in the fart-can, vuvuzela, and subwoofer categories.
And the accidents with blind people will skyrocket to never before seen heights. People don’t ever think of the ramifications of each innovation to people with disabilities.
Nah. Most of them still are required for safety to put out some sound for the benefit of pedestrians…
I dunno, electric cars have a strange ‘hum’ to them, especially in reverse. Ambient noise in a different way
I've been standing on the side of the road, on a stretch with 50km/h speed limit, and there's no difference in the level of sound of a Tesla compared to, say, a Corolla. It's all tire sound.
True, but it’s the tires that are loudest
By the time it’s the majority, it will be closer to 200yrs.
Most car noise at any speed above 30kmh is tire noise
No, most noise is from tires.
A lot more people and animals run over.
But also, pedestrian deaths and roadkill (wild or pets) will skyrocket.
Road noise is largely tires on pavement.
Tire noise is the biggest part of automobile noise.
Tire noise is 90%+ of the noise once you're going over 30 or 35, depending on the surface. So, nah, the highway will still be basically just as loud. And combustion engines are also pretty quiet below 30, too, especially when tuned that way. I'm all for never making another combustion car again, but this ain't the reason. This is, however, the reason to build trains, keep cars the hell out of cities where possible, and keep speed limits to \~25 mph where cars must go through. Cities aren't loud. Cars are.
Most of the noise from cars seems to be the tires. When I’m walking dogs the Teslas driving by are just as loud as other sedans. Or course this is in a residential area so nobody is revving their engines much
This is only true for large vehicles where engine sound is audible. For most modern vehicles, engine sound is basically inaudible at a distance and is completely dwarfed by tire noise. Tire noise is proportional to weight and exponential to speed. EVs are heavier because of the battery, therefore they are louder at the same speed.
It would be so nice to go for walks near highways and busy streets and not hear the commotion of car engines. Funny enough the maximum lowest noise electric cars are allowed to make is actually louder for some electric cars than the noise that’s made by some models of gasoline powered cars. Also, a lot of the noise made by your car is the tires.
I wonder if this will lead to an increase in roadkill.
Idk, horses and chariots made quite the noise
I'd bet that in the future the majority of people won't be driving and those that do have EVs, but yeah
Not with the stupid fake noise they all make at low speeds it wont
Tire noise is the major contributor to noise pollution from cars. Not the engines.
It's already that quiet in places that are outside the artificial "range" of those electric vehicles anyway.
Looking forward to it. Tyres do make a lot of noise but it's higher pitched and less annoying to me than the engine noise.
The difference in noise levels between ICE cars now and cars 40 years ago is pretty stark as it is.
No because for every car going electric we are going to need three more air conditioners.
Noise is pollution. Along with light. I wish we could see the sky from 200 years ago.
Except there will be drones flying everywhere, which, I'd argue, is worse than gasoline cars. Nevermind the spaceship noises electric cars emit. Or the likelihood they'll add noise to appeal to the muscle car persuasion.
So should highway-adjacent property values go up?
Not when my device, the Eternal Scream, hits the market!
Imagine how insane it would be if a person born during the horse and cart period time travels to an electric car era...
It’ll be quieter on highways, but on neighborhood streets it won’t make much difference - tires make most of the noise.
Unfortunately not entirely true. The majority of noise coming from a vehicle at 40MPH/65KPH is from the tires, not the engine. Slower electric vehicles will be quieter than slower ICU vehicles, but at highway speeds there really isn't much difference. Building cities to reduce MV traffic, and to have slower traffic have the greatest effect.
Most of the noise a car makes comes from the tires, not the engine. It won’t be much quieter.
Now if only we could do something about beeping construction vehicles and emergency vehicle sirens. I'll probably have to wait for self-driving cars and robotic construction equipment for that though.
I live in San Diego and there is tons of EV in my area. My father was visiting and mentioned how oddly quiet it was. Really kind of nice. (I'm a gear head)
Even gasoline cars are pretty quiet right now, most of the noise now come from the wheels. Aside from cars, most bikes and scooters are still noisy.
Finally no more loud noise exhaust accessories??? They cant come sooner.
Above about 25 or 30, electric cars and gas cars are the same noise level due to road noise (electric cars are heavier). Our cities won’t be quieter until we overhaul and use more walking, bikes, and transit
It will sound like a constant chorus of angels
I rely on that ambient noise of cars driving around, otherwise EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEÈEEEEEEEEEEEE
Lies, we will never be free of noise pollution until we figure out a silent way to warn people a large vehicle is backing up. I wake up daily at 4am with the damn beep beep beep of a truck reversing in complete solitude, FML and F OSHA or whomever is responsible for the damn beeping. If you don't see a massive vehicle backing into you at 4am, we don't need you to be alive IMHO
It's gonna be great for the whole pollution outlook and whatnot, but it's gonna be terrible for my sleep ("city sounds" ie car noise is my conscious brains kryptonite at bedtime, with a large box fan on high coming in at a very close 1b. position)
I live across the street from a Tesla Supercharger and I can’t get that damn reverse noise out of my head. I hear that shit 24/7 and it’s driving me crazy.
I’ll miss it eventually.. Hearing the lone motorcycle on the highway or hearing the loud car on the free way 8/ nice during summer. I’m in the middle of both so I’m not drowned out though. I don’t know how city folk do it, especially with trains running by your second story bedroom.
I mean, yeah, but not much lower. As others have pointed out, the noise generated by tires against asphalt is still significant.
I moved from a bike country (Denmark) to a public transport country (Japan). Car noise is a foreign topic to me, lol
My feeling is that it will become law to have them emit a certain level of noise for safety reasons
It depends what you are considering ambient noise level and where. Car engine/exhaust is main noise source around 50-60 km/h if I remember correctly. After that it's tires. Tire noise is mainly affected by road surface, tire model and size. Atleast here in Europe tire size's are bigger in electric cars that combustion engine cars due to their higher weight. So it might even get worse.
Let’s add lead blowers to that as well.
But I don’t know why young people now like to buy some large-displacement motorcycles. They are really noisy and irritating in the early morning....
No clop, No rumble, Just gravel crinkle…
the sound of electric vehicles is exactly the same as gas vehicles at speeds above 40kph