Come September 1, 2019, electric cars won’t be entirely silent any longer, and the 2019 Chevrolet Volt is the latest to conform. Per the 2010Â Pedestrian Safety Enhancement Act, the Volt plug-in hybrid features a new low-speed alert tone to mark its presence.
The low-speed alert regulations specifically require plug-in hybrids, electric cars and future silent propulsion methods to emanate a non-visual alert to ensure pedestrians and the blind are aware of a car. The regulation is meant to mimic the sound of an internal-combustion engine and exhaust, which gives pedestrians notice of a car approaching. Electric cars, obviously, don’t emit a sound.
Here you go (video also being uploaded to article). pic.twitter.com/5Py6fJDC5R
— Michael Wayland (@MikeWayland) September 24, 2018
The 2019 Chevrolet Volt and its new tone were shared via a Twitter video from Automotive News reporter Michael Wayland. In the video, we can clearly hear the new hum coming from the Volt, which sounds similar to the Volt’s initial startup chime on loop. It’s a pleasant tone, but it’s quite strange to hear the car make any noise at all. The tone activates when the car is put in “Drive” or “Reverse” and the volume increases to match the speed before tapering off around the 20 mph mark.
Per the law, the electric car is only required to emit the sound under 18.6 mph. After that, lawmakers said a vehicle creates enough sound with tire and wind noise to keep pedestrians safe as it passes by. According to Chevrolet, the driver and any passengers can’t hear the sound from inside the car, either. That’s a rather good thing since many electric car drivers enjoy the silent motoring experience.
The new tone is one of many improvements Chevy has made to the 2019 Volt. The PHEV also receives an update to its charging system to reduce times on Level 2 chargers, a refreshed digital display, new “energy” app, and smoother regenerative braking. Its estimated all-electric range remains the same, however, at 53 miles, or 106 MPGe.
Comments
Even with the artificial noise, I’ve driven right behind pedestrians walking obliviously down the middle of parking lot aisles and had them be completely surprised that I was there. It would be interesting to know *why* Chevy updated the sound and if it’s louder than the previous artificial noise. Should be interesting to see if the tone changes with speed or just increases in volume. I must have better than average hearing as I can definitely hear the sound inside the ELR and second generation Volt.
Sean: You might want to update your article to prevent confusion. The headline could be something like “2019 Volt Gets Updated Low-Speed Sound Effect.” This is just a new sound effect for 2019. ELR and second generation Volt both already made noise to comply with the requirement that was supposed to go into effect in 2016. I think it was delayed until now. I miss the silence of the first generation Volt, too. (Maybe that’s what you meant.) Also, “alert” is typically what I think of as the pedestrian alert—the gentle horn honking drivers can use to warn pedestrians who haven’t noticed the artificial sound.
I kinda wish it was a cool sounding as the Fisker Karma’s sound. This one sounds too ‘angelic’.
Families are well advised to talk to their loved ones about the dangerous mix between vehicles and pedestrians . Califmexifornistan has the highest pedestrian death rate.
People walking blindly in parking lots and on streets simply are being Darwinian and their DNA isn’t going to be passed on into the future.
I thought it sounded awful.