DAVID FURLONGER: The new world of motoring

What would be your reaction if, walking along the pavement in your suburban street, you suddenly heard a lion’s roar approaching at high speed from behind? I know what mine would be. Suffice to say it would require the subsequent use of a washing machine and possible purchase of new trousers.

In theory, the experience could become a common one. One of the perceived features of electric vehicles (EVs) is their quietness, inside and out. Rolls-Royce used to boast that engine and external noises were muffled so successfully that the only sound car occupants could hear was the ticking of the analogue clock. When even that went digital, the silence was supposed to be absolute.

Now, with electric motors taking over from the internal combustion engine (ICE), everyone will soon be able to claim the same.

Or will they? Without engine sounds to block it, noise from wind resistance and tyres will become more noticeable.

A study by Korean carmaker Hyundai found that in an ICE car, the engine is responsible for 50% of noise heard by occupants (assuming the radio’s not blaring), tyres 30%, wind 10% and other sounds 10%. In EVs, tyres account for 40%, wind 30%, motor 15% and other 15%.

Many EV converts report that the loss of engine noise is a problem for them, because it gives a sense of speed and driving conditions.

It’s an even bigger problem for pedestrians, cyclists and other road users. I remember, some years ago during the formative period of EVs, constantly walking unwittingly into the path of test models at a European motor show. I wasn’t the only one. Fortunately the cars, used to ferry VIPs between events around the extensive showgrounds, were limited to walking pace and the drivers were ready to brake for the unwary.

Even so, there were a few bruises from low-speed bumps.

It’s an environmentally tempting thought but we clearly can’t have millions of cars whizzing silently by at high speed. The answer, say motor companies, is to manufacture sounds that pedestrians and others will associate with approaching vehicles.

Design rules require a “virtual engine sound system” to generate recognisable sounds. Engineers say they can reproduce the sound of any engine imaginable.

Time magazine reported: “Companies have turned to elite teams of sound designers to create new noises that play from EVs’ internal and external speakers, making them safer and more marketable. Sound designers from companies like BMW, Audi and Ford … frame their work as an effort to encode their brands’ ethos into a sound.”

It needn’t stop there. In theory, your little urban runabout could be accompanied by the roar of a high-powered sports car. If you get bored with that, there is, inevitably, a cellphone app that allows you to play other engine soundtracks.

Then, of course, there are radical alternatives. How about animal noises? Engineers say the sounds of barking dogs, honking geese, braying donkeys, trumpeting elephants (another case for the washing machine) and roaring big cats can all be replicated.

Who the hell would associate any of these sounds with the approach of a car?

In the US, animal sounds are not illegal by definition but, according to road safety authorities, probably can’t meet stringent technical requirements. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration recently rejected a proposal that would allow motor companies to install several pedestrian-alert sounds in EVs. Drivers would be able to switch between them at will.

The agency says support groups for blind people want “more uniformity … in the number and types of alert sounds allowed”.

These are not major issues yet for SA. Maybe they never will be. Some familiar sounds on our roads will always herald the approach of a vehicle: metal wheel rims digging up the tarmac; endless hooting by taxis; the screaming of terrified passengers; loads falling off the back of trucks; and vehicles crashing into each other.

Silence is not an option in SA.​