Music producer for Culture Club, Motorhead and the Beach Boys, Steve Levine has been consulted in an effort to come up with an artificial sound for a Jaguar electric car. He is said to be looking for a luxury feel when experimenting with sound, not just a sound to alert pedestrians, for the Jaguar CX75 (pictured left).Whilst electric vehicles aren’t totally silent, the minimal sound that they do produce is seen as a dangerous factor as unsuspecting pedestrians are unaware of their approach, Mr Levine was consulted to come up with some ideas to help combat the issue.
Motorhead music man, Mr Levine says safety isn’t the only consideration when it comes to the ‘sound’ of a car, what people like to hear when driving is also a factor, going on to state that people can have a personal preference as to a particular engine or gearbox noise.
The Engineer magazine editor, Jon Excell, said the issue needs addressing as electric vehicles grow in popularity. The industry could be seriously damaged should near silent electric vehicles and unwary pedestrians feature in traffic accidents, denting public acceptance.
Halosonic, a Lotus engineering partnership, are looking into the possibilities available when it comes to sound effects and the manufactured sound is propelled from front and rear speakers on the vehicle, depending on the vehicles direction and speed, ensuring the cars approach is identifiable to pedestrians.
Although there are no plans to have vehicles that sound like galloping horses or spacecraft, with real samples, synthesizing or creation of sound based on analysis of car reverberation, a ‘mood’ can be created for the car.