Do you think we will ever have electric sports cars that produce a good loud sound?

109
United States
United States
bloodykills750
As more and more car companies go electric, my biggest concern is with electric sports cars. I admire the acceleration of these cars but for me and a lot of people, one of the best things about sports cars is the sound and that is what electric cars are lacking. I'd like to hope that 1 day, someone is able to create an electric sports cars that creates a good sound without the use of speakers. I want the electric motor itself to make the sound
 
We already live in a world where many cars have a digitally enhanced engine sound due to how turbocharging effectively muffles an exhaust note. Electric cars, especially the sportier ones, will no doubt take this even further.
 
We already live in a world where many cars have a digitally enhanced engine sound due to how turbocharging effectively muffles an exhaust note. Electric cars, especially the sportier ones, will no doubt take this even further.


In a generations time electric cars will be the norm - or rather ICE cars will not be the norm. It will only be old dewy-eyed car enthusiasts who lament the passing of the V8* and it's associated noise.


*or engine of your choice.

*oopps*
 
I'll just put this here.

Of course if these experiences are indeed so missed, I can almost imagine a cottage industry forming around products that reproduce them.

On the low end, you've got vent clips that, instead of smelling like banana-nut bread, smell like glowing-hot ceramic clutches.

Mid-range? How about a subwoofer under the seat triggered to produce a "poompf" when you lift off the throttle after sustained heavy engagement...to simulate the aforementioned burning of unspent fuel in the exhaust.

And for those with money to burn, I'll sell you a wireless "shifter" that sits in your console cupholder and talks to a clever bit of programming in the motor's control module, telling it to interrupt power delivery until the next lever position is triggered.

Now there may also be those who long for an ICE car that has been poorly maintained, if at all, so you've got vent clips that smell like unspent fuel, reservoirs that leak fluids onto your driveway so that you have to break out the kitty litter and gasoline to draw them out of the concrete, and nifty computers that tell your car to sputter and lurch down the road.

This industry isn't limited to products, though. No, I envision boutique establishments where you pay a few thousand dollars to rent space on a hydraulic lift while you wait inside and staff do absolutely nothing to your car because it was fine. You have to go next door to use a restroom, though.
 
Electric cars will always sound like milk floats unless you use artificial noises. It's just the nature of the electric motor. Formula E still sounds like an early morning milk delivery and they're at the pointy end of electric car development.
 
I think for electric cars they really need to start emphasising the very quiet whine you sometimes get from them. I really like hearing that when my car is running in EV mode but it's very subtle. Rather than going back to the past to emulate the sound of a V8 or similar, why not look to the future and create a new sound?

EDIT: I happen to think Formula E cars sound really cool

 
Just wait until BMW makes an M electric car. Then you'll get all the V8 sounds you want, pumped through the speakers.

Perhaps a dial (or more likely a menu setting) to switch between 4cyl N/A (S14), straight 6 N/A (S50 or S54) and small capacity V8 (S65) sound emulations. Or for full authenticity, a nice rendition of a clattery diesel for those Motorsport d enthusiasts?
 
Last edited:
Perhaps a dial (or more likely a menu setting) to switch between 4cyl N/A (S14), straight 6 N/A (S50 or S54) and small capacity V8 (S65) sound emulations. Or for full authenticity, a nice rendition of a clattery diesel for those Motorsport d enthusiasts?

Renault did this a few years ago with the Clio:

 
In a generations time electric cars will be the norm - or rather ICE cars will not be the norm. It will only be old dewy-eyed car enthusiasts who lament the passing of the V8* and it's associated noise.

This.

There's no reason that it's better for your car to be loud. It's a byproduct of the technology, not something that was introduced because people liked it. Cars will become quieter, and that's probably good. Folks who want the old noises will buy old cars and hang on to them.
 
A 'good, loud sound' to me is absolute silence, so, yeah, they already exist.
 
As more and more car companies go electric, my biggest concern is with electric sports cars. I admire the acceleration of these cars but for me and a lot of people, one of the best things about sports cars is the sound and that is what electric cars are lacking. I'd like to hope that 1 day, someone is able to create an electric sports cars that creates a good sound without the use of speakers. I want the electric motor itself to make the sound
The sound that comes from a normal internal combustion engine is explosions, pushed down a metal pipe in a specific order.

An electric motor, which is basically a electromagnet spinning inside a permanent magnet, can't make that sound.
 
This is how it starts.

iu


iu
 
Back