Among the many features available in the upcoming GMC Hummer EV Edition 1 electric pickup truck – already confirmed to include Terrain Mode with one-pedal driving, an Extreme Off-Road Package and nearly 200 accessories – will be a system called Bose Electric Vehicle Sound Enhancement Technology.
The system was first announced by Aaron Pfau, GMC Hummer EV lead development engineer, in a keynote presentation at the 2021 Consumer Electronics Show (CES). “How do you create the sensory explosion to accompany motors turned up to 11?” Pfau asked.
The problem will be familiar to anyone who has ever driven a really powerful electric vehicle. Acceleration from a standing start is both instantaneous and, one might say, electrifying. This will be true even of the least powerful Hummer EV so far announced. The EV2, scheduled to go on sale in the spring of 2024, will have two electric motors with a combined output of 625 horsepower, and will get off the line very rapidly.
The Edition 1, due to arrive in the fall of 2021, has three motors producing 1,000 horsepower. No concrete performance figures have been revealed, but GMC says the 0-60 mph time will be “approximately three seconds”.
That’s not enough to quicken the pulse of a Top Fuel or Funny Car dragster driver, but it will be quite the experience for the rest of us. The downside is that, in most EVs, there would be no auditory sensation to match it – a distant whine accompanied by rapidly increasing wind and road noise, yes, but nothing apart from that.
This is where the newly developed Bose system comes in. Pfau explains that it provides a “truly immersive sensory experience that brings you in direct contact with your vehicle” incorporating “guitar riffs, high-frequency feedback and sounds inspired by Formula E motorsport to create the sensation of power and torque that you’ve unlocked”, without specifying if they are all produced at the same time. Pfau also doesn’t he say whether the sounds vary in proportion to the speed of the supertruck, but it seems very likely that this will be the case.
Confirmation will come soon enough. After describing the system to the extent he did, Pfau concluded, “We can’t wait to share it with your later this year.”
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Comments
In my humble opinion nothing can replace the thundering sound and feel of an ICE! Think about going to a dirt track to watch winged sprint cars without the thundering sound and vibration from 20 or so ICE equiped race cars at the drop of the green flag! How would they artifically creat that experience? No thank you Hummer equiped with artifical sound.
^^^Absoulutely, that mere thought of a future without ICE will keep me in my current collection until there’s no more gas left. It’s a change that most of us dont look forward to. So what if a 3 ton monster can hit 60 in 2-3 seconds. Its still electric and completely souless. I Love my Hemi Charger and my 6.2 Escalade. I’ll be the grandpa in the Hellcat with Historic/street rod/antique plates. Y’all can have this new crap!
Lou you better hold on to those two awesome vehicles because almost the same thing was said about 50 years ago everyone thought mucle cars where dead for good and the most amazing thing happened the muscle cars became collectors items and now worth triple there original price if not more…I can kinda see the same thing happening to ICE engines depending on what vehicle the ICE is in if the future is without ICE’s then they will become the sought after cars and trucks and be worth something! Remember nobody in the 60’s and 70’s thought you could see a Shelby mustang for 250,00 dollars or a big block Chevelle for 150,000 dollars.
Pat,
I remember a 1970 Cuda with a Hemi 4 speed, all original and numbers matching that sold at Barrett-Jackson for $675,000. This was about 5 years ago.
EVs are the future why do they need sound enhancement? Don’t people hate sound coming from their present ICE vehicles lol?
Jez I hate fake induced things via simulation. Was laughable to see an Audi video a few months ago in which they spent several minutes describing the sound of the audi e-tron GT. They used so many big words too and tried to be emotional. Only for one to hear the sound at the end of the video. I could not contain my laughter.
This actually answered my problem, thanks!