Since electric and plug-in hybrid vehicles are almost totally silent when driving at low speeds, they are required to emit a distinctive noise any time they are moving at less than 20 mph (32 km/h) to warn nearby pedestrians. A proposal that had been made to the NHTSA back in 2019 wanted to let drivers choose the noise their vehicle makes in these situations from a variety of different sounds, many of them related to animals. But making the warning noise sound like an animal or an object that is not expected to be on the road could startle and confuse pedestrians, who could fail to notice a vehicle that is coming at them. This doesn’t mean that automakers will all be forced to use the same noise, however. Indeed, the NHTSA only rules that the chosen noise needs to be consistent among vehicles of the year, model, body style, and trim level. Read original article here.
