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by synaesthesisx 933 days ago
It's astounding just how quiet EV's are; they can make you hyperaware of other noises (hence why this page exists).
4 comments

Is this universal? I've driven the Rav4 Prime and Ioniq 5 extensively and neither made weird sounds.
The fact that this page exists feel like they're having a lot of creaking/rattling complaints. Why else have it.
I've driven the Ioniq 5 and I can easily hear a high pitched motor whine at speeds between 45 and 60 mph. I cannot hear any noise below 45 or above 60, other than the intentional pedestrian warning sound.

I suspect as I age my ability to hear such high pitched whine will be gone.

Motor whine isn't a weird sound and it's unsurprising Hyundai doesn't have an FAQ page to explain it.

I suspect many of these noises are due to Tesla's notoriously poor build quality.

I agree it isn't weird but it bothers me much more than the engine noise of an ICE car.
It would highly depend on the brand and model: one would expect Rolls-Royce EVs or even some like Lexus not to make any annoying noises.
Wouldn't one also expect that of Teslas, which are as expensive or more expensive than EVs made by legacy luxury brands like Lexus?
Tesla is new and mostly for tech-oriented people, the expectations are new and more techy things are ok. Legacy brands have expectations set in peoples' minds, so they have to keep up with their history.
It's more a tech-guy thing than EVs: I'm very aware and listening to sounds made by ICE cars or motorbikes, and I'm not a mechanic, just a little bit techy. The sounds are different on EVs because some are new to us: those related to charging, the battery, the motors, ... we don't expect them yet. That doc is really good for this, but only for us technies. Most people won't care until something is not functioning though.
I hope legislation gets enacted that will make it illegal to blast artificial "exhaust" noises from EVs.

Not like cops will actually enforce it, but one can still dream...

All the blind people will definitely not want that...

I can see, and yet I've been scared more than once by an unusually quiet car behind me.

I'm not 100% sure, but the words "blast" and "exhaust" make me think they're not talking about friendly car-is-here noises.
They added the artificial exhaust noise because it's a legal requirement
No need to make it illegal. The laws just need to be fixed to stop making it mandatory, and every automaker will drop it immediately.
The mandatory noise maker is an important pedestrian safety feature. It helps you avoid getting hit by cars. It's also only required at low speeds (and at higher speeds it wouldn't matter anyways due to tire noise dominating).
We can always install a 50cc two-stroke ICE in every electric car. Would be perfect for warning pedestrians ;)
Yeah scary, I need to look around in carparks where I used to rely on the noise of the car approaching.
This isn't a problem in my neighborhood, the opposite has now happened. I can hear my neighbors more than a block away. And it's actually not the EVs that are the worst offenders -- it's Toyota hybrids. They -howl- and are much louder than the non-hybrid equivalent. My Model 3 just makes white noise. Same volume as any other unmodified car at low speeds. Tire noise quickly dominates in either case, of course, above 10-15 mph or so.