High-pitched "Electrical Whine"

[Mike16]

It is not a visual thing, people are used to rely on they sense but an EV produce so low noise compared with an ICE at low speed that it is safer to have a pedestrian sound

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[solarmoo900]

But they were how the car was certified...

The speaker is not required by law to be used. It's required by law for a car to be sold.

and shall prohibit manufacturers from providing any mechanism for anyone other than the manufacturer or the dealer to disable, alter, replace, or modify the sound

Says it will require them to emit sound but if you want to read the law (https://www.congress.gov/111/plaws/publ373/PLAW-111publ373.pdf) and find loopholes there it is

 

[SteelMach]

Says it will require them to emit sound but if you want to read the law (https://www.congress.gov/111/plaws/publ373/PLAW-111publ373.pdf) and find loopholes there it is

When it was built...

 

[SteelMach]

Okay, do what you want.

I like the speaker.

 

[prdude]

Except maybe the risk of going to jail if a pedestrian is hit after intentionally disabling a legally required safety measure.

I could also imagine some serious civil liability

 

[Papa T]

When it was built...

I don't think you read the Act, or you are reading it to fit your bias. The Act clearly states that it is intended to provide alerts to blind and pedestrians. The intent and language clearly establishes that "new electric or hybrid vehicles to provide an alert sound " for pedestrians to "reasonably detect." There is no language in here that would stand up to a "when it was built" argument. You can argue any point you like to in a courtroom, but I don't see this argument standing up to the language in this Act.

 

[JSW]

I don't think you read the Act, or you are reading it to fit your bias. The Act clearly states that it is intended to provide alerts to blind and pedestrians. The intent and language clearly establishes that "new electric or hybrid vehicles to provide an alert sound " for pedestrians to "reasonably detect." There is no language in here that would stand up to a "when it was built" argument. You can argue any point you like to in a courtroom, but I don't see this argument standing up to the language in this Act.

I was enjoying y’all going back and forth regarding the Act and, ironically, believed PapaT to be correct until he quoted the Act. By its own terms, the Act appears to constrain only manufactures, not users/resellers...

The Act applies to “new electric vehicles....” built after the specified date.....
The Secretary shall allow manufacturers to provide each vehicle...
Further, the Secretary shall require manufacturers to provide...
The Act shall prohibit manufacturers from providing any mechanism for anyone other than the manufacturer or the dealer to disable, alter, replace, or modify the sound...

I may be switching sides on this one.
Many Bolt users routinely pull the fuse that applies to the noise generator. (Not advocating, just sayin)

 

[zhackwyatt]

I was enjoying y’all going back and forth regarding the Act and, ironically, believed PapaT to be correct until he quoted the Act. By its own terms, the Act appears to constrain only manufactures, not users/resellers...

The Act applies to “new electric vehicles....” built after the specified date.....
The Secretary shall allow manufacturers to provide each vehicle...
Further, the Secretary shall require manufacturers to provide...
The Act shall prohibit manufacturers from providing any mechanism for anyone other than the manufacturer or the dealer to disable, alter, replace, or modify the sound...

I may be switching sides on this one.
Many Bolt users routinely pull the fuse that applies to the noise generator. (Not advocating, just sayin)

It's probably not illegal for an end user to disable it. But may be in certain states. I could also forsee where you could lose a lawsuit due to disabling it if you hit someone who walked out in front of you.

 

[Papa T]

I was enjoying y’all going back and forth regarding the Act and, ironically, believed PapaT to be correct until he quoted the Act. By its own terms, the Act appears to constrain only manufactures, not users/resellers...

The Act applies to “new electric vehicles....” built after the specified date.....
The Secretary shall allow manufacturers to provide each vehicle...
Further, the Secretary shall require manufacturers to provide...
The Act shall prohibit manufacturers from providing any mechanism for anyone other than the manufacturer or the dealer to disable, alter, replace, or modify the sound...

I may be switching sides on this one.
Many Bolt users routinely pull the fuse that applies to the noise generator. (Not advocating, just sayin)

You almost won me over, but I decided to do a little more research:

Code of Federal Regulations (govinfo.gov)

Section 8: " S8 Prohibition on altering the sound of a vehicle subject to this standard. No entity subject to the authority of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration may:

(a) Disable, alter, replace, or modify any element of a vehicle installed as original equipment for purposes of complying with this Standard, except in connection with a repair of a vehicle malfunction or to remedy a defect or non-compliance; or
(b) Provide any person with any mechanism, equipment, process, or device intended to disable, alter, replace, or modify the sound emitting capability of a vehicle subject to this standard, except in connection with a repair of vehicle malfunction or to remedy a defect or non-compliance. "

I guess the question here is does an "end user" fall under the authority of the NHTSA. The fact that (b) prohibits the sale of any mechanism to disable would seem to imply that it does.

 

[Papa T]

It's probably not illegal for an end user to disable it. But may be in certain states. I could also forsee where you could lose a lawsuit due to disabling it if you hit someone who walked out in front of you.

As stated in my previous post, I'm not sure that a typical driver falls under the authority of the NHTSA, but if we don't, I would certainly think that you are correct on the liability end. If they have gone to this length to regulate it, actively disabling it would certainly open you up for a significant amount of liability.

 

[DaMeatMan]

That would be illegal.

Do Teslas make an exterior sound for pedestrians? I was just talking to my wife today about this, I can't recall ever hearing any noticeable artificial sound emanating from a Tesla to get pedestrian attention to a moving vehicle, but then again I never drove in one so would not be paying particularly attention to it.

I'm genuinely curious if Teslas do the same, and if not, why not?

 

[VegStang]

They added the speakers for the alert a while back, but last time I checked had not enabled it yet.

Do Teslas make an exterior sound for pedestrians? I was just talking to my wife today about this, I can't recall ever hearing any noticeable artificial sound emanating from a Tesla to get pedestrian attention to a moving vehicle, but then again I never drove in one so would not be paying particularly attention to it.

I'm genuinely curious if Teslas do the same, and if not, why not?

 

[solarmoo900]

Do Teslas make an exterior sound for pedestrians? I was just talking to my wife today about this, I can't recall ever hearing any noticeable artificial sound emanating from a Tesla to get pedestrian attention to a moving vehicle, but then again I never drove in one so would not be paying particularly attention to it.

I'm genuinely curious if Teslas do the same, and if not, why not?

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-...-months-to-meet-quiet-car-rules-idUSKBN25O2RR

U.S automakers will have another six months to meet “quiet car” regulations requiring electric and hybrid vehicles to emit alert sounds to warn pedestrians when they approach, a federal regulator said on Friday, citing the coronavirus pandemic.

Tesla will have to do the same, but I guess they are just waiting until they 100% legally have to

 

[methorian]

So - I finally made it back to my dealer today and was able to check out a Carbonized Grey FE they have (for sale if anyone in VA is interested!).

Unfortunately it also has an audible electrical whine, though not as bad as mine. For now I'm just waiting for more and more folks to get their Mach-E's and hopefully Ford will do something once enough people complain. I know that type of noise isn't audible to a lot of folks, but those of us with more sensitive hearing can definitely hear it.

 

[ThetaGod]

Well, I just took delivery of mine and I have this issue. Definitely the instrument cluster and it is definitely tied to the brightness as it changes in tone and volume based on the brightness setting. I have sensitive hearing but even my wife hears it...normally I’m the only one complaining about sounds like this, so it’s definitely not just a sensitive hearing issue.




This was a huge ticket item for me and I wouldn’t have bought the car with it. I sat in the car nearly 2 hours between the test drive and trying out many things. I never once heard the sound. I was even in the car by myself for a while and definitely didn’t hear it. The first time I noticed it was on the drive home. The only thing that changed was that we added PAAK before leaving. I’m still trying to figure out how to get rid of paak just to at least makes sure it’s not that (also because paak is terrible anyways).

Really hoping for a fix.