Quiet Car Detectability: Impact of Artificial Noise on Ability of Pedestrians to Safely Detect Approaching Electric Vehicles

Many auto manufacturers are now producing hybrid and electric vehicles with an additive noise component to signal vehicle presence in the same way that internal combustion engine vehicles signal their presence through engine noise. The Virginia Tech Transportation Institute conducted an evaluation of quiet car detectability as part of a GM-funded project in 2015–2016. The internal combustion engine benchmark significantly outperformed the other three vehicles under a 10-km/h steady approach, but these differences largely disappeared at 20 km/h due to increased tire and road noise. Trends of improved detectability offered by the additive noise signals were observed but did not demonstrate a significant advantage over an electric vehicle with no additional noise component. Since that original project, NHTSA has released their final version of Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard (FMVSS) 141, outlining “Minimum Sound Requirements for Hybrid and Electric Vehicles.” This project aimed to demonstrate differences in detectability by replicating the previous study but with newer FMVSS 141-compliant sounds. The proposed additive sounds examined drastically improved detectability compared to the production variants included in the first round of testing. At 10 km/h, the additive sound conditions outperformed the no-sound condition by magnitudes ranging from 3.4 to 4.6, each eliciting mean detection distances well above the NHTSA minimum detection criteria. At 20 km/h, detectability also improved dramatically over the earlier production variants, achieving a similar magnitude advantage over no-sound as observed at 10 km/h. Increasing background noise resulted in a measurable impact on mean detection distances. The average reduction across all conditions was approximately 33% and 28% for approach speeds of 10 km/h and 20 km/h, respectively. In terms of accurately recognizing a stopped vehicle in a 20 to 0 km/h scenario, all sound conditions significantly outperformed the no-sound condition across both background noise conditions.