Recent data showed that the number of electric passenger cars on the roads in the world reached 27 million cars at the beginning of 2023, with expectations that this number will rise to 100 million cars by 2026, driven by more customers adopting the option of clean means of transportation.
Many factors helped the electric car market to flourish, including encouraging countries to acquire them through a series of legislation that exempts their owners from taxes, as a previous report by Bloomberg New Energy Finance expected that the number of electric vehicles on the roads would reach approximately 731 million cars by the year 2040, or what Equivalent to 46 percent of the vehicle fleet on the roads at the time.
Losing an important element in the world of leadership
Electric car sales recorded a record surge in 2022, exceeding 10.5 million cars, rising by nearly 50 percent, compared to 2021, with expectations to reach 22 million units by 2025, according to Bloomberg.
But the increasing and rapid reliance on electric vehicles will lead many drivers to lose an important element in the world of driving, which is the sound that the engine produces in traditional cars. The electric car engine does not emit a sound, as this is somewhat sad for car enthusiasts, who believe that The quietness of electric cars does not create any feelings for the driver.
The biggest disadvantages of electric cars
The complete silence of electric cars has become one of the biggest defects that these vehicles suffer from, not only according to the opinions of drivers who love the sounds of car engines, but also according to road traffic safety authorities in many countries, which has prompted some of them to issue legislation that may seem surprising, as it stipulates However, electric cars manufactured in the future must have clear sounds that can be distinguished from a distance.
For example, the European Union considered that electric cars are very quiet, to the point that they may pose a danger to passers-by on the roads, especially for pedestrians, cyclists, and other cars, who sometimes realize that there is a car near them through its sound, and not just through its sight, and this is what prompted The European Union to pass legislation in 2019 that would force electric cars to “make noise” that would attract the attention of pedestrians.
Under European legislation, all electric car manufacturers must provide their vehicles with a device that emits sounds while driving on the road, similar to the sounds of traditional engines, and this sound also works while the car is reversing.
In turn, regulators in America insist that electric cars must emit sounds that allow pedestrians to know that they are approaching them, and this is also welcomed by associations for the protection of stray animals in the world, which believe that electric cars’ issuance of sounds also contributes to warning animals that may be on the roads. In rural areas.
Currently, various electric car producers are intensifying their efforts to provide their cars with systems that emit fake engine sounds, while some companies are working to create a special soundtrack for the engine they produce, which reflects the unique identity of the brand, through the use of famous musicians.
Exaggerated strange sounds
Dr. Hasnaa Harfouche, a follow-up writer on electric cars, said in an interview with “Iqtisad Sky News Arabia” website, that the primary goal of the laws and legislation that are passed in some countries, to oblige car manufacturers to make their electric vehicles emit fake sounds, is the first goal to ensure safety and reduce the risks. Traffic accidents by warning pedestrians, cyclists, and other car drivers that a car is approaching them, noting that previous figures collected by the US National Highway Traffic Safety Administration showed that the possibility of pedestrians and cyclists being injured as a result of a collision with an electric car is twice as likely. The chances of being hit by a car with a regular engine, while another study shows that silent cars cause accidents by 40 percent.
According to Harfouche, a number of electric car manufacturing companies are now offering a set of models of fake engine sounds, to add life to the car’s movement, noting that some of these models shock passengers in terms of the amplification that occurs, as some cars, for example, can emit a sound similar to the sound of a fighter jet, Or even a sound similar to racing car engines, which prompts many electric car drivers to describe the sounds of their cars as strange and funny, as they are exaggerated and do not reflect the true power of the car.
Harfouche explains that the sounds produced by electric cars are not produced by the car itself, but rather by an audio simulation system that relies on a loudspeaker, pointing out that in addition to the safety element, companies are trying to bring back the flavor of the past to some drivers who lack the experience of driving cars that run on fuel. As a social being that communicates using sounds, the absence of the sound of engines in electric cars has created a state of emptiness for many drivers who have become accustomed over the years to the sounds of their cars.
Noise is not a negative factor at all
For his part, in an interview with the “Eqtisad Sky News Arabia” website, Muhammad Musa, an expert in the automobile trade, said that China, America, Britain, the European Union, and Japan are among the countries that support the principle of electric cars generating artificial noise, which serves as a warning to pedestrians, pointing out that the advantage of not The sound in electric vehicles has become considered a defect, especially when these cars are traveling at low speeds in residential neighborhoods, as it will not be clear to pedestrians that there is a car coming towards them or close to them, which may pose a danger to them.
According to Musa, car sounds may be a worrying matter for the comfort of residents of areas where vehicles are moving all the time, but the fact that electric cars did not emit sounds revealed that the situation had turned from worrying to dangerous for pedestrians, which showed that noise was not a negative factor at all, and this is what I realized. Traffic safety authorities in a number of countries have already insisted on applying the principle of making noise to alert passers-by, pointing out that companies such as Fiat, Renault, BMW, Mercedes, and Tesla are among the companies that are working on designing fake sounds that are compatible with their models.
Sounds really funny
Moussa stressed that, based on estimates, it is expected that the number of electric vehicles traveling on the roads in the world will reach 731 million cars by the year 2040, and if all of these cars remain “silent,” this will reflect a significant increase in the number of collision accidents around the world, indicating Manufacturers are very interested in the issue of car sound, as some companies are considering providing fake engine sound systems as a kit that can be installed on previously sold electric cars.
Musa mentioned that some of the sounds made by electric cars are not necessarily similar to the sounds of a regular car, as there are cars that make a sound closer to the sound of a broom, and this is what makes the situation really funny.
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