Mach E Sounds Clarification

[RunningHorse]

Hi, seen a lot of posts/discussion regarding the sounds the Mach E makes lately and just wanted to clarify the details and clear up any confusion. So the sounds the Mach E emits can be broken up into two domains, interior cabin sounds and exterior sounds outside the vehicle.

Interior Sounds : The sounds passengers can hear from inside cabin come from two different sources, artificial propulsion sound and electric motor whine.

• Propulsion Sound: This is electronically generated sound based on real time vehicle dynamics A module takes in input signals for torque, power, and speed then a software algorithm processes the signal values and outputs a request to generate a propulsion sound at x frequency at y loudness. These sounds are broadcast from the internal vehicle speakers
  • Can I turn off propulsion sound? Yes, you can turn it off in all modes.
  • Is it based on an internal combustion engine sound? No. Engineers researched sound profiles from movies, machinery, the Formula-E race series, roller coasters and amusement park rides. The final Mustang Mach-E sounds include “futuristic sound profile elements with hints of conventional Mustang sound elements"
  • Does the propulsion sound change with the 3 drive modes (Engage, Whisper, Unbridled)? Yes.
    • Engage Mode: Slight propulsion sound
    • Whisper Mode: No propulsion sound, you can only hear the slight motor whine at take off
    • Unbridled Mode: Loudest propulsion sound
  • What's the point of propulsion sound, isn't a BEV supposed to be quite? It's an option that can be turned off/on as stated previously. Also research shows many passengers in BEV vehicles get motion sickness because of the harsh acceleration (instant torque) and deceleration (regenerative braking). Many people are used to hearing an engine note to give them a sense of speed/slowing down that prepares them mentally however in a BEV you loose this. A propulsion sound helps remedy this issue as passengers who are reading/on their phone/etc. are able to get a sense of acceleration from the propulsion sound.
• Electric Motor whine: In all modes there is also a very slight motor whine sound you can hear emanating from the electric motors. This is a real sound and It's mostly noticeable at takeoff. Listen to the first couple of seconds of whisper mode clip for example.

Exterior Sounds: The Mach E has exterior speakers to emit electric vehicle warning sounds to nearby pedestrians. This is driven by government regulations that requires mandatory use of AVAS (acoustic vehicle alerting system). For BEVs the AVAS is required to make sounds when traveling below 12 miles per hour or if going in reverse.

• What does it sound like?
  • Transmission in drive/ going forward
  • Transmission in reverse/ going backwards
• Can I turn it off? No, it's a government mandate but you can probably find a way to disconnect the wires to the AVAS speakers if you really wanted to.
• Is it loud? Not really, It's intended to alert close by pedestrians/bicyclists that a vehicle is passing.

Hope that helps

Sauce:

• https://media.ford.com/content/ford...-sound-mustang-mach-e-sci-fi-drive-tones.html
• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electric_vehicle_warning_sounds
• https://www.sae.org/publications/technical-papers/content/2016-01-1784/

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[pb3]

Hi, seen a lot of posts/discussion regarding the sounds the Mach E makes.....

.....Hope that helps

Awesome post. it's the first definitive and complete explanation and It helps a lot to demystify all the FUD on sounds. Love the examples.

Thank you.

 

[Badger_Prof]

Hi, seen a lot of posts/discussion regarding the sounds the Mach E makes and lately and just wanted to clarify the details in case anyone is confused. So the Mach E emits sounds both internally in the cabin and externally outside the vehicle.

Interior Sounds : The sounds passengers can hear in the cabin come from two different sources, artificial propulsion sound and electric motor whine.

• Propulsion Sound: This is electronically generated sound based on real time vehicle kinematics. A module takes in input signals for torque, power, and speed then an algorithm process the signal values and outputs a request to generate a propulsion sound at x frequency at y loudness. These sounds are broadcast from the internal vehicle speakers
  • Can I turn off propulsion sound? Yes, you can turn it off in all modes.
  • Is it based on an internal combustion engine sound? No. Engineers researched sound profiles from movies, machinery, the Formula-E race series, roller coasters and amusement park rides. The final Mustang Mach-E sounds include “futuristic sound profile elements with hints of conventional Mustang sound elements"
  • Does the propulsion sound change with the 3 drive modes (Engage, Whisper, Unbridled)? Yes.
    • Engage Mode: Slight propulsion sound
    • Whisper Mode: No propulsion sound, you can only hear the slight motor whine at take off
    • Unbridled Mode: Loudest propulsion sound
  • What's the point of propulsion sound, isn't a BEV supposed to be quite? It's an option that can be turned off/on as stated previously. Also research shows many passengers in BEV vehicles get motion sickness because of the harsh acceleration (instant torque) and deceleration (regenerative braking). Many people are used to hearing an engine note to give them a sense of speed/slowing down that prepares them mentally however in a BEV you loose this. A propulsion sound helps remedy this issue as passengers who are reading/on their phone/etc. are able to get a sense of acceleration from the propulsion sound.
• Electric Motor whine: In all modes there is also a very slight motor whine sound you can hear emanating from the electric motors. This is a real sound and It's mostly noticeable at takeoff. Listen to the first couple of seconds of whisper mode clip for example.

Exterior Sounds: The Mach E has exterior speakers to emit electric vehicle warning sounds to nearby pedestrians. This is driven by government regulations that requires mandatory use of AVAS (acoustic vehicle alerting system). For BEVs the AVAS is required to make sounds when traveling below 12 miles per hour or if going in reverse.

• What does it sound like?
  • Transmission in drive/ going forward
  • Transmission in reverse/ going backwards
• Can I turn it off? No, it's a government mandate but you can probably find a way to disconnect the wires to the AVAS speakers if you really wanted to.
• Is it loud? Not really, It's intended to alert close by pedestrians/bicyclists that a vehicle is passing.

Hope that helps

Sauce:

• https://media.ford.com/content/ford...-sound-mustang-mach-e-sci-fi-drive-tones.html
• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electric_vehicle_warning_sounds
• https://www.sae.org/publications/technical-papers/content/2016-01-1784/

Thank you for the very well written post that provided meaningful value for many of us. Posting sources was a very helpful touch.

 

[eltonlin]

Fantastic write up. This post should be pinned or Wiki’d

 

[Maric]

Personally I love the hum of the artificial engine noise.

 

[Hi_Im_Mike]

Does anyone have actual clear sound clips of what these sounds like?

 

[JamieGeek]

Electric Motor whine: All of my plugins have had some sort of wine during operation. I attribute it more to the gearing than the electric motor itself.

It is more prominent in some modes of operation than others (vehicle depending of course). For instance: The Bolt's wine is quite noticeable during regen.

The Focus Electric was a bit quieter than the Bolt but still perceptible.

Don't want to mention it but if you've ever ridden in an electric golf cart you'll recognize the sound (don't want to mention because early critics of EV's usually called them "glorified golf carts").

 

[JamieGeek]

Does anyone have actual clear sound clips of what these sounds like?

Click the links in the article above...

 

[Davedough]

Thank you for this. I'd been curious as to the sounds and couldn't detect any in any ride along videos. They're not nearly as intrusive as I thought they would be. I'll probably still drive with them all off, but they're not bad

 

[generaltso]

I’ve gotta say, the reverse sound is annoying. It just plays on top of the same sound it makes when driving forward, so I really hope we can turn it off. But I haven’t seen any settings in the menu to indicate we will be able to change it.

 

[MightyJawa]

I like the electric whine in my Volt. It lets me know the Flux Capcitor is spinning up.

 

[Hi_Im_Mike]

Click the links in the article above...

Thx, I read through them without clicking any links

 

[Kamuelaflyer]

Personally I love the hum of the artificial engine noise.

I love quiet. I'm looking forward to a no engine sound drive. I also like the engine sound the MME makes too. So I can see my drives doing both. Nice to have an option for it.

 

[JamieGeek]

Agreed. The beeping tone is annoying. I don’t want to sound like a John Deere backing up. Since it can’t be turned off, maybe some well placed duct tape will do the trick.

On the Bolt Chevy provided a handy fuse for just the exterior audio system. Pull the fuse and all outside noises are gone (including some chirps to let you know its charging, etc.).

 

[timbop]

On the Bolt Chevy provided a handy fuse for just the exterior audio system. Pull the fuse and all outside noises are gone (including some chirps to let you know its charging, etc.).

You mean they shortsightedly have a single point of failure with fuses that tend to fall out

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