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DOT Finalizes Rules on Warning Noise for EVs
The U.S. Dept. of Transportation has finalized rules requiring electric vehicles and other “quiet” cars to emit warning sounds at speeds below 30 kilometer per hour (19 mph).
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The U.S. Dept. of Transportation has finalized rules requiring electric vehicles and other “quiet” cars to emit warning sounds at speeds below 30 kilometer per hour (19 mph).
The long-delayed standards are intended to alert pedestrians, bicyclists and the blind in city settings to the approach of slow-moving and otherwise silent vehicles. The rule will be required by September 2019 for hybrid and electric cars, SUV/crossovers and shuttle buses that weigh 10,000 lbs or less.
DOT estimates the measure will affect about 530,000 vehicles in the 2020 model year. On an annual basis, the measure will cost carmakers $39 million and reduce traffic injuries by 2,400 for a net benefit of roughly $250 million, according to the department.
Figuring out what noise to make will be left to carmakers. The Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers notes the challenge will be to find sounds that are loud enough to be heard without being annoying to people inside and outside the vehicle.
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