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Electric Vehicles

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I believe all newer EVs make a noise at low speed, and when reversing. Mine emits a single tone, and a beep when reversing. Very slightly older models than mine had a switch to turn this off, but I think the law changed, and my car has a blanking plate in that position.
 
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My older EV doesn't have a sound generator. I have to be especially careful around pedestrians. But I still find it a bit funny when I sneak up on someone (unintentionally of course) in a parking lot and they get that startled look when they suddenly notice a car right behind them.

If I could add sound to my car, I would choose the theme from Jaws.
 
UK. My 2018 Prius didn't have a sound generator. My in-law's approx 2021 Leaf has a sound generator which can be turned off. My 2023 Leaf has a sound generator which cannot be turned off. Progress?
 
KAJ said:
UK. My 2018 Prius didn't have a sound generator. My in-law's approx 2021 Leaf has a sound generator which can be turned off. My 2023 Leaf has a sound generator which cannot be turned off. Progress?
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Grrr, one of the big draws of electric cars for me (aside from the environmental benefits) is them being quieter than ICE cars, I wish they wouldn’t throw that away because some people can’t look around themselves / hear the road noise they make.
 
Electra, a huge retail chain has sold electric motorcycles for two years now, don't see many but they are just picking up. Now they want to bring s Chinese electric car by BYD into the stores. It's not here yet, some government issues need to be worked out but soon, maybe. The model shown wasn't a glorified golf cart, and nowhere near Tesla range but affordable to us.
No specs were given yet.

The gas prices here should keep the public interested, and not having to do emissions testing is a plus. We shall see.
 
Ethan Thane Athen said:
Grrr, one of the big draws of electric cars for me (aside from the environmental benefits) is them being quieter than ICE cars, I wish they wouldn’t throw that away because some people can’t look around themselves / hear the road noise they make.
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They still are quieter than ICE cars; at low speed, there is very little road noise and it is easy to miss them (first reference I remember seeing to this was in Sons of Anarchy where someone being chased ran into the path of an electric car).
 
Mine makes a sound that is weirdly reminiscent of the 'Cylons' from the original 'Battlestar Galactica'.

It can be turned on and off with a button on the dash, but I only turn it off if I'm pranking friends.
 
Samson said:
Probably covered, but how do you heat the interior of a fully EV?
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I have the 2011 Nissan Leaf which has a resistive heater. Models from 2013 on use a heat pump.

But how do I heat the interior of my car? I don't. In 4 years I have used the heater 3 times for a minute or two to stop the windscreen fogging up, and that's it.

Part of the reason I don't need to use the heater is that it doesn't get much below freezing here, and I keep the car in a garage attached to the house (OTOH I often don't heat the house either - I just wear extra clothing). But the main reason is that my previous gas cars used engine coolant to heat the cabin, which took so long to get up to temperature that it wasn't worth it. Better to keep the heater off and let the engine warm up faster.

So I just conditioned myself to handle cold. The Leaf is much better than my previous gas car because the seat fabric and steering wheel stay warm, and with the vents closed there are no cold drafts. I also wear short trousers all year round, and if I feel cold I do a bit of exercise before driving. Heaters are for sissies!
 
bruto said:
I think they generally use a heat pump or some design similar.

e.t.a. I see that Tesla has up till now used resistive heat, which is simpler and cheaper but not as efficient as a heat pump.
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I think it was a year or two ago that Tesla switched to a heat pump, which is far more efficient.

If you can plug in at home, you can precondition the climate control while still plugged in, not affecting the range for at least that initial warm up/cool down.
 
Fast Eddie B said:
If you can plug in at home, you can precondition the climate control while still plugged in, not affecting the range for at least that initial warm up/cool down.
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Besides the benefit of increased range, climatizing is a nice feature. My car doesn't sit in the garage. So back when I drove to work every morning, it was nice to have the inside of the car heated or cooled to a comfortable temperature before I got in.
 
jadebox said:
Besides the benefit of increased range, climatizing is a nice feature. My car doesn't sit in the garage. So back when I drove to work every morning, it was nice to have the inside of the car heated or cooled to a comfortable temperature before I got in.
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Indeed, or strolling out on a frosty morning, hopping into your toasty car and driving off past the dinosaurs scraping the ice off the windows of their ICE vehicles. :p
 
8enotto said:
Electra, a huge retail chain has sold electric motorcycles for two years now, don't see many but they are just picking up. Now they want to bring s Chinese electric car by BYD into the stores. It's not here yet, some government issues need to be worked out but soon, maybe. The model shown wasn't a glorified golf cart, and nowhere near Tesla range but affordable to us.
No specs were given yet.

The gas prices here should keep the public interested, and not having to do emissions testing is a plus. We shall see.
Click to expand...

novaphile said:
Mine makes a sound that is weirdly reminiscent of the 'Cylons' from the original 'Battlestar Galactica'.

It can be turned on and off with a button on the dash, but I only turn it off if I'm pranking friends.
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My friends’ BYD (Build Your Dreams - it deserves to be spelled out!) makes a sci-fi noise. My 4 year old loves it, calling it a ghost car!
 
Ethan Thane Athen said:
Grrr, one of the big draws of electric cars for me (aside from the environmental benefits) is them being quieter than ICE cars, I wish they wouldn’t throw that away because some people can’t look around themselves / hear the road noise they make.
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Maybe because there are blind people? That is why they require them to make a noise at low speeds.
 
Disbelief said:
Maybe because there are blind people? That is why they require them to make a noise at low speeds.
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And because even sighted people can't see behind themselves.

Anyway, I haven't heard many (any?) complaints about being able to hear the generated sounds inside the car.
 
Both our 2018 Honda Clarity PHEV (since handed down to a family member) and our 2022 Tesla Model 3 both make an ethereal angelic sound at low speeds. The only time the driver is aware is with the window down, and something to reflect the sound back - most noticeable creeping up to a drive-in window, or pulling into a garage.
 
Filippo Lippi said:
You block it out, just like you used to block out the engine noise from your ICE car
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It's very hard to hear from inside mine, driving inside a closed space with the windows open is pretty much the only way.

From outside, it's this weird warble-warble-warble noise and it does attract a pedestrian's attention. I think it turns off at 60 km/h because tyre noise is loud enough on its own after that.
 
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