Aptera › Community › Aptera Discussions › Low Speed Sound
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Low Speed Sound
Posted by joshua-rosen on December 11, 2021 at 7:46 amFor the low speed sound I’d like them to use the day The Day The Earth Stood Still
I can’t think of a more appropriate sound for this car.
Greek replied 3 months, 3 weeks ago 37 Members · 49 Replies -
49 Replies
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I am still pulling for the sound of the air-cars from the Jetsons cartoon.
I have long wondered what the actual source was for the foley for that.
You could stay with the theme and, when something doesn’t work correctly or, god forbid, you get in an accident, hear Astro say, “Rah-roh”.
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Drum beat solo from In-a-Gadda-Da-Vida. Original extended version not the short commercial one.
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I made a recording for my husband’s phone where I say “Pick up the phone. It’s your wife calling. Honey, pick up the phone. Pick up the phone. I love you. Pick up the phone, honey.” The dentist office was laughing a lot when it went off during his cleaning, but he hears it better than the ring tones. For the Aptera, I think I’d do something along the lines of “Coming through. Excuse me. Head’s up people. Coming through. Pay attention. Here I come. What are you looking at? Excuse me. Coming by…” because people hear voices better than car noises. On the other hand, I’d kind of like a really loud train whistle for a horn. Or a submarine dive alarm. Or a cruise ship horn. Maybe change them out depending on how I feel that day?
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I’m afraid that there are restrictive laws and regulations governing this so maybe not. On the other hand, since it is a software issue, there may be some wiggle room that might – just might allow some post delivery “hacking” where owner/operators can change the sound (at their own risk). That’s all largely beyond my ken, but we can dream and petition for it.
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The only regulatory requirement in the US seems to be speed: Quiet vehicles must generate a continuous pedestrian-warning sound up to a speed of 30 kph (18.6 mph). The language doesn’t specify a decibel level – only that the sound be loud enough but not excessively loud.
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i was thinking what a freepiston flat 12, 6 or 4 or would sound like… max fuel per combustion chamber all the time, only “RPM” sound changes, so its much more linear acorss pedal range. multiple moudles of 2 combustion chambers of combustion timing can make it sound more harmonious rather than the basic 2 stroke combustion pattern.
if turbine finished the burn clearner burn and another way to generate eletricty, there would be that jet sound kind of like pressure building up in pipe of 2021 porsche gt3,which most people will not like it b/c its not 1:1 relationship with pedal range at least as expoential relationship if not linear, but it can be ok if quieted and kept more linear under pressure, and loudness is kept less than the piston sound.
ford voodoo v8 , gma t50, carrera v10 , connnaught x20 ,lexus LFA or lc500
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I don’t see why we couldn’t have a choice but mine would be the Jetsons vehicle sound, with the frequency adjusted to the speed just like on the show.
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Aptera probably wont be able to make the low speed sound completely customizeable since there are regulatory requirements that needs to be met. The requirement for low speed sound is there to make pedestrians aware that a vehicle is approaching after all. They should be able to make a selection of sounds to choose from though if there is enough demand for customization.
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Legally Aptera will be limited however an individual can customize the sound and even unplug the speaker to keep the car completely silent. There is only an issue if there is an accident that is directly the fault of the owner modifying the car. The tesla model 3 also has a speaker and has about a dozen built in soundtracks and the ability to upload your own personal audio.
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My votes:
(1) Keyboard solo (with drums at the end) from The Who’s Won’t Get Fooled Again (from ~6:34 to ~7:45)
(2) Opening to Jethro Tull’s Locomotive Breath; the first 1 min 20 sec
(3) Or for something a bit different: Adriano Celentano’s Prisencolinensinainciusol
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Factory sound effects from Charlie and the Chocolate factory.
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I know many EV purists will disagree but I like the idea of simulating the sound of a Harley or muscle car. Especially with 3.5 second acceleration it just seems like it would be fun off the line to get some retro throwback. The entire idea is to make noise and I really don’t think anyone has ever considered oldschool ICE muscle vehicles as quiet.
PS: Apparently the Dodgy Hellcat is being replaced with an EV since they have reached the practical limits of ICE performance.
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I think the Pink Panther Theme, or maybe Baby Elephant walk would be fun
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I would like to have the sound of a horse pulling a cart.
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I Vote for Steam Engine, “Big Boy” (or “Flying Scotsman”)Leaving the Station, (Would be a small file) Hack the Software, Tie it to road speed and Ambient Outside Noise. Make it available at all speeds if Ya Want. What Wonderful Sound to use as You pass someone on the Freeway!
An Alternate Fun Sound for me would be a Great Big “Hit and Miss” Flyball-Governed Engine: POW! puff, puff, puff – POW! puff, POW! puff, – POW! POW! POW! – as You gathered Speed!
Oh Yeah, also Include the “Lonesome Wail of a Steam Train Whistle” For the Horn. 130 dB Should do it! <Grin>
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I really like the sound the Kia and Hyundai EVs make. The beeping in reverse is annoying though.
I also like the sound Teslas and Honda PHEVs make in reverse. Basically the same sound.
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Many good ideas for low speed sounds. The Jetson’s flying car is my favorite, but a horse walking on pavement, a steam train (with automatic switchover for horn to sound like a steam train whistle), the sound of playing cards clicking against bicycle spokes, an idling jet fighter, or helicopter all sound like viable choices. I think that the best option would be to just allow the owner to program their own choice via a microSD card. It would relieve Aptera from the possible copyright lawsuits if the user programmed the sounds.
I can imagine the disappointment of the children in the neighborhood, if I programmed my Aptera to play the same crappy sound that the ice cream truck plays driving down the street. 😎
I have a little device called a Soundracer, that plugs into the cigarette lighter and it can detect engine speed based on little spikes in the DC power caused by the alternator. It then transmits the sound of a big block muscle car engine (or a screaming F1 engine) to an unused FM radio frequency so you can crank up the volume and sound like a 69 Chevelle or something similar. The sounds increased in speed along with the engine speed, even going through the gears. It worked great in my Smart Car.
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Does anyone actually know if Aptera will need a outside sound? Being an autocycle the rule might not apply.
As to having fun with it unfortunately NHTSA kinda killed that idea when they made Tesla recall boombox mode… I like the idea of simulating a loud engine just to mess with people but alas no dice on that.
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Pedestrians will ignore it just as they do now. I first put a beeper in parallel with one of the reverse lights and it was ignored. I then installed a Wolo BA-70 that says “Attention please! This Car Is Backing Up!” They STILL ignore it! Too bad I can’t change it to say “Get your fat ass out of the way!”
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This reply was modified 10 months, 3 weeks ago by
Dennis Swaney.
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This reply was modified 10 months, 3 weeks ago by
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Of course, you can never go wrong with the playing card in the spoke trick.
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Honestly I prefer no sound. But if I had to choose.
Old school – Nausicaä’s Insect Charm Sound
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Is this a serious discussion?
the motors aren’t whisper quiet and the tires on surfaces make noise.
I’ve passed many Tesla’s and sound just like and other car on the road
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Our brains learn certain sounds represent danger and others are mere noise through repetitive experience. We don’t consciously think about. The sound of ICE cars are known to represent potential danger. It will be years before EVs are prevalent enough to automatically register inverter whine as potential danger.
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So you’re saying it should be a herd of buffalo or a lion roaring? I like it. Elephants charging. A rattlesnake rattle. Your mother’s voice using your full name.
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The main problem is when you are in a parking lot with pedestrians walking (many times deliberately) behind cars backing out of a space and oblivious ones sauntering down the middle of the lanes. At the higher speeds on streets and highways, then yes there is road noise (which pedestrians still ignore).
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Alas, this is a serious topic.
In Switzerland at least, electric cars must make noise when driving at low speeds. I’m looking into what the specs are, but the idea is that people are accustomed to hearing ICE, and therefore won’t hear a slow moving electric car.
I personally find this irritating and particularly ironic (if not moronic), because we have reduced speed limits due to noise, particularly at night (30 kph, ~20mph) in some areas (even on main roads !).
Also, as most pedestrians seem to have their concentration locked on their mobile device and are oblivious to their surroundings, I’m at a loss to explain how making noise will help. Noise pollution is harmful too !
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Clearly, the sound of a Wright R-3350 on a Skyraider “Spad” idling at reduced volume works for me.
Pedestrians may actually look up from their iPhones.
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Is this the sound other people hear as you drive by? Or what you hear in the cabin?
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It is really hard to take the NHTSA ruling seriously. The only way that ANY EV driving under 20mph can be heard by pedestrians (whether they be blind or simply wearing bluetooth earbuds) is to have the EV produce sounds that can be heard over the sound of the kid down the street with a 5000 Watt sound system in his hatchback thumping out rap music (or hip-hop, heavy metal, pop, country, polka, pick the genre) that can be heard 10 blocks away!
My 2015 SMART EV also has that stupid sound generator and I can’t even hear it because I’m hard of hearing. The electric air conditioning compressor makes more noise than the sound generator.
I think it would be ironic to get written up with a moving violation because my car is too quiet. Especially since the police around here rarely enforce state laws about loud audio and exhaust systems.
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Why can’t NHTSA think things through. If they believe that a low speed should is a necessary safety measure then why haven’t they specified the sound? Either you have one sound for all cars or you allow many sounds but this half way measure that takes choice away from consumers but not from manufacturers make no sense. I can see the benefits of having a standard sound, it will be easier to train service dogs to react to a specific sound and potentially even normal people would be more attuned to a standard sound. On the other hand if their research shows that it’s just having a sound, any sound, at a specified volume is all that matters what’s the difference between having potentially dozens and maybe even hundreds of manufacturer selected sounds and allowing consumers to pick their own sound as long as it’s always played at the specified volume.
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@Joshua Rosen – if you look at the actual ruling, it’s very specific about volume and frequency range, along with other details. https://www.law.cornell.edu/cfr/text/49/571.141
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