AWD Motor whine

AFVolt

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Any other AWD owners hear motor whine while driving?

From a stop I hear a whining noise (not from a screen) that increases in pitch while accelerating. Then while decelerating I hear it decreasing in pitch until I come to a stop.

I thought it was since I had AWD I was hearing the front motors. But I drove a loaner car for a few days that was also AWD and didn't hear it in that one.

I had a Volt, and while running on battery it was whisper quiet.

Curious if others are hearing the same, and is expected, or should report it to the dealer.
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MattG

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I haven’t noticed anything like that in mine. I’d report it.
 

supertramp

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Any other AWD owners hear motor whine while driving?

From a stop I hear a whining noise (not from a screen) that increases in pitch while accelerating. Then while decelerating I hear it decreasing in pitch until I come to a stop.

I thought it was since I had AWD I was hearing the front motors. But I drove a loaner car for a few days that was also AWD and didn't hear it in that one.

I had a Volt, and while running on battery it was whisper quiet.

Curious if others are hearing the same, and is expected, or should report it to the dealer.
Try to turn propulsion sound off - my wife was also "complaining" - turned out to be the artificially generated sound on... :)
 
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AFVolt

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Try to turn propulsion sound off - my wife was also "complaining" - turned out to be the artificially generated sound on... :)
Propulsion sound is off. Unless it’s saying it’s off but still on??
 

supertramp

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Propulsion sound is off. Unless it’s saying it’s off but still on??
In that case it's obviously not good. But just in case. before you talking to the dealer, still, watch this video from 19:30 to approximately 20:15 - testing three modes and its sound. Again, just to be sure it's not what you hear.

My wife was surprised by the sounds and I was not too aware of it, but when we turned it off, everything was dead quiet while driving in any mode (or at least nothing that bothered us).
 


sockmeister

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You're probably hearing normal gear mesh sounds. They will make noise, but it should be relatively faint. Sounds normal in the video posted above at 19:30.
That's really cool and I'm actually looking forward to hearing the sound of the motors and gears whirring. I'll probably turn the artificial propulsion sound off, however.
 

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I can hear the motors wine when accelerating and decelerating. I think it is cool. My previous EV did the same thing.

I dont hear anything while stopped except for the HVAC system (sometimes also the A/C compressor) since it can be a bit noisy on a warm day like we had here today....
 

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I can hear motor whine when accelerating and decelerating. I was not expecting it to be zero whine so did not think much. It’s quiet at stop. And I don’t see it whine a lot when I accelerate from stop to see how fast I can go to 60. I have not driven any others so I can’t tell. Will check that video. Propulsion off
 

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I can hear the motors wine when accelerating and decelerating. I think it is cool. My previous EV did the same thing.

I dont hear anything while stopped except for the HVAC system (sometimes also the A/C compressor) since it can be a bit noisy on a warm day like we had here today....
Electric motors are not silent. Watch formula-e to hear. At speed meaning cruising along, very quiet. Where I hear some noise is slowing with one pedal as I think the is it generating electricity for back into the battery. I also like the sounds the motors make.
 

prdude

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Electric motors are not silent. Watch formula-e to hear. At speed meaning cruising along, very quiet. Where I hear some noise is slowing with one pedal as I think the is it generating electricity for back into the battery. I also like the sounds the motors make.
In addition to noise from the electric motors, there are going to be noises from the power electronics
 

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Electric motors are not silent. Watch formula-e to hear. At speed meaning cruising along, very quiet. Where I hear some noise is slowing with one pedal as I think the is it generating electricity for back into the battery. I also like the sounds the motors make.
Agree.
 

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Motor certainly makes some noise but comparing it to my Bolt I don't think it's any louder or quieter than it, so at least for what I have heard in mine, it seems pretty normal. If anything, I think the 1 pedal driving deceleration noise is (noticeably) louder than in the Bolt but I don't think that is an issue either - Bolt has some noise when slowing down / going slow and so does the Mach-E.
 

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My wife has been driving a MB BEV for a couple years, it's the loudest EV I've ever heard (related to the early Tesla Model S motors.) The MME will be near silent in comparison I'm sure, but I expect some whirl.
 

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My Mach-E is definitely louder than my i3 was.
 

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Any other AWD owners hear motor whine while driving?

From a stop I hear a whining noise (not from a screen) that increases in pitch while accelerating. Then while decelerating I hear it decreasing in pitch until I come to a stop.

I thought it was since I had AWD I was hearing the front motors. But I drove a loaner car for a few days that was also AWD and didn't hear it in that one.

I had a Volt, and while running on battery it was whisper quiet.

Curious if others are hearing the same, and is expected, or should report it to the dealer.
Are you hearing the sound from the pedestrian alert system? The owners manual explains it this way:

“Due to the quiet operation of hybrid and electric vehicles at low speeds, the system creates a subtle sound to alert pedestrians.​
The system is on when your vehicle is running and not in park (P). Some sound may be audible in the passenger compartment.”​
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