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10/08/2011
By EWAN KENNEDY
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Not so long back I penned an opinion piece about noises being added to electric cars so that pedestrians who didn’t look before walking out onto the road would be protected from their silly behaviour.
My argument was that our streets are already unpleasantly noisy and the introduction of almost silent electric cars was an excellent way of civilising our cities. I disagree with those who say that pedestrians, and cyclists, shouldn’t have to look where they are going, so noises have to be built into electric cars.
Some of the suggestions, such as making electric cars sound like hot V8s, or that they put out pretty little tunes are interesting. Though I feel letting drivers choose a sound to match their mood of the moment are just plain stupid.
I’m concerned that the so-called road safety experts who think that we should all be treated like little children by having decision making taken away from us, are likely to be the first to demand that electric cars have noises added to them.
Another problem is that the occupants of electric cars would lose the serenity of their ride by having an artificial noise being created by their cars.
Thankfully, sensible ideas are also being thrown into the argument. One of them comes from British sports and racing car maker Lotus. That company, which is also renowned for being at the forefront of engineering and electronic work, has come up with some interesting ways to protect pedestrians from themselves and electric cars.
Lotus suggest that if cars do have to make a noise then they should only do so when required. It has come up with a system called Halosonic that looks ahead for pedestrians and, if it senses they are in danger of being hit by the car, produces a sound to warn them to take care.
Using a specially kitted out version of its Evora sports car as a test bed, Lotus has installed a camera to look ahead for pedestrians and calculate their distance, speed and angles to see if there is a danger of collision.
The car then puts out an audible signal of the correct volume to reach the pedestrian and warn then of danger.
Lotus loses me at this point by saying the warning signal could be that of a car engine, music, or even a futuristic science fiction sound. Personally, I reckon a digitally created blast of a car horn is probably the best way.
Is Lotus on the right track, or should I stick with my original statement that pedestrians should do the right thing so that no unnecessary noise is created. Let me know what you think. As always, I can be contacted on ewan@marque.com.au
Lotus is working on several cutting edge new models for itself. These will be introduced in the next few years and will include pure electric cars designed for city use only, as well as hybrids. I’m also pleased to report that Lotus hasn’t forgotten its roots and has several sports models on the drawing boards.
As well as the work it’s doing on the Halosonic system, Lotus is also working on ways of making cars quieter inside. Perhaps it can’t make petrol and diesel cars as close to silent as electric cars, but Lotus is studying methods of cancelling out sound within cars’ cabins, as well as ways of making engines feel smoother and quieter than they really are. |
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