Nissan's Leaf EV will sound like a Blade Runner spinner, get better mileage
By Vlad Savov 
posted September 21st 2009 9:24AM
posted September 21st 2009 9:24AM
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posted September 21st 2009 9:24AM
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Can't you put a huge plastic bottle behind the wheel? You know, kind of like poor kids like to do with their bicycles to make them "roar"? D:
I will be putting baseball cards in the back wheels.
I thought I was the only one who did that....
But soda cans work better, they stay properly.
yea, the missing noise pollution element is something that society cannot do without
If I bought one it would stop making the added sounds about 30 minutes after I got it home ;)
I've owned electric cars before and the coolest part is driving in silence.
You know what it needs?
It needs that awesome **ENVIRON CTR / PURGE** sequence on it's navigation system :)
Oh, and sorry for the double post... a delete option is desperately needed...
The problem is, Chris, most buyers won't know how or even know it can be done. Just because us tech/motor heads see the problem as fixable doesn't mean the average consumer will and that is very unfortunate.
I'll only buy it if it makes the whooosh sound in airless space, like the best sci-fi movies.
Otherwise, I'll leave the leaf alone.
Safety in space is my utmost concern.
This should come with project http://betterplace.com 2-minute battery swapping technology.
IIRC, Better Place is using Nissan vehicles, so it's certainly a possibility.
OK, you're freaking me out, I just watched Bladerunner on Netflix Sat... And yes, I want my car to sound like that.
"Do you like our Owl?"
BEST MOVIE OF ALL TIME!!!
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Blade_Runner_characters
ROY "F-ING" BATTY!
"I've seen things you people wouldn't believe. Attack ships on fire off the shoulder of Orion. I've watched C-beams glitter in the dark near the Tannhäuser Gate. All those... moments will be lost in time... like... tears... in rain".
Nuff said...
Can I have the 30 seconds it took to read this article back?
No
does it really have to be a "roar" how about something cool like the enterprise going to warp.
Too true!
Erm, the whole article is how they make it 'swish' similar to the cars in blade runner instead of using engine roar sounds.
I don't get why it would cost more. Licensing?
No more like extra parts that weren't there before.
Wait... no option to make it sound like it's from The Jetsons??
As far as safety goes, why can people just watch where they are going, drivers and pedestrians alike.
I know blind people can't "watch where they are going", but the driver can watch for them.
People just need to pay more attention, too many people die because someone was not paying attention.
As for the 'petrolheads' who can't bear a silent car, either GROW UP, or just go off and buy your corvettes and hummers.
I once saw a blind person at a crossing, with stripes on the road, and the traffic had red lights and he green, the blind person waved his white/red stick, stepped on the street and at that moment a car decided to not stop and drive through red in front of the blind guy, was one of the most incredible rude things ever, but a nice illustration of the type of people you find on the road.
There has been legislation proposed that would require a MINIMUM sound level to aid in pedestrian safety.
I want an electric car, but I refuse to buy one until they start producing some that are not insultingly high-priced. $40,000 for the Volt? Forget it. I'll jump in when someone releases an electric commuter car with fewer accessories (I don't need a damned seat-warmer or super stereo system) and a price tag under $19,999 out the door.
Of course, the whole point of the industry pricing the electric cars higher is that they want them to fail. That way they can say "See? Nobody wants electric! The oil companies were right!"
Make an electric mini-car kind of like the Mini or Smart, and charge $12,000 for it, and it will sell.
Making an electric that costs $12k would also have the benefit of reducing "smug".
*sighs* Do you think a seat warmer is 5 grand? A "super stereo system" 3 grand? A GPS 5 grand?
You are paying for the huge Li-on battery and the crap load of R&D that went into the design you ret@rd. Engadget needs to start banning stupidity. It was cute the first 100 times. Now its just making the reader of engadget look like 12 year old 'tards.
@John Doe..:
ZeroCorpse offers a legitimate concern. I share it, as a matter of fact.
Calling someone a "ret@rd" makes you look like a twelve year old.
It will take some time for prices to drop that much. At this time just the battery pack and charging system on the leaf costs 12K.
Could you please stop reporting miles per gallon efficiency for electric cars. It doesn't make sense at all. What I would like to know is range per charge, time of charging and how many charge cycles before batteries die. And top speed would be nice.
Miles per gallon = Miles per charge. There is no difference. In either case you need to stop and replenish energy. Get over it. Hell I had to get over the whole netbook thing even though the proper term is subnotebook.
The term MPG isn't going anywhere unless there is a fed standards mandate.
That is not true mr. John Doe. Gallons are not range. That is an estimate of same energy consumption that has nothing to do with either range or gallons. That MPG number has no valuable meaning. In fact it is totally meaningless number with sole purpose to confuse potential buyers.
For electric car only meaningful information is range per charge, time of charging and how many charge cycles before batteries dies.
And yes, I want electric car to be silent. There is already enough sound pollution everywhere.
GM opened this can of worms by widely advertising their Volt at 230mpg, so Nissan had to do the same for PR reasons. Tesla has a 256mpg number from the DOE for Cafe reasons but they don't really advertise it to the public. Range is a lot more important for the consumer. On the sticker though, every EV will have a kWh/100miles rating like they did in the past.
As a fun exercise though for bragging rights, the energy equivalent of a gallon of gasoline is 33.7kWh according to the DOE. Using this formula you can get how many gallons of gasoline's energy is in a battery pack. For example, the Tesla has 53kWh so its battery pack has the energy equivalent of 1.57 gallons of gasoline. The Leaf has 24kWh so 0.71 gallons of gasoline. Using this and the range, you can get "battery-to-wheel" efficiency.
As a cyclist, I enjoy silence too much.
I have this 'problem' with people not knowing I'm approaching and then as I whissshhh past them, they sh!t their pants.
I will fight tooth-and-nail for this feature to remain exclusive to cyclists!
:p
I enjoy doing the same thing to cyclists on my electric moped. Sometimes they get all buttsore that I'm in the bike lane until I explain that it's a low speed electric and that it's intended to use bike lanes/paths. Pisses people off when it's on the road, pisses people off when it's in the bike lane or on the sidewalk. Pretty much unavoidable, but it doesn't need gas, a license or insurance so it's worth putting up with the occasional angry, confused motorist.
Soon segways will have ipod speakers that loop a track of the woz shouting 'bzzzzzzzzzzzz"
I can guarantee you that when I do get my first electric car and if it has this I'll disable it. Screw the peds...if they aren't going to do their job of paying attention to what is happening around them why should I do my job of caring about you hearing me?
This is in the same realm as the start seeing motorcycles bumper stickers. I will start "seeing" motorcycles when motorcyclists start driving sanely. Not all, but enough are idiot drivers, same deal with peds. And if someone is blind and can't see my car...well then its MY job to be paying attention well enough to see that seeing eye dog with the harness and work vest, or cane. Responsibility goes both ways people.
Yeah! Screw the pedophiles!
John Doe, in most states pedestrians always have the right of way :) So silent or not, your responsible for watching where your going .
Lol... if you hit a pedestrian it's your fault, period. They always have the right of way. Enjoy your jail sentence, asshat.
Peds don't have the right to be 't@rds. I've seen them walk out in the middle of traffic causing a 3 car pile up. The dude was sued and rightly so. The driver that hit him got off with a petty mis and then dropped due to the dude being an ***hat.
noise coming from the engine means vibration, thus mechanical stress and energy loss.
You can always hear the tyres, even at walking speeds, so I don't understand what the fuss is all about.
Exactly what I was going to post! When I'm out walking, half the time I hear the tires long before I hear the actual vehicle's engine.
Most of the "controversy" is being driven by blog and news posts that warn people about the dangers of "silent" cars. It isn't true but it generates pageviews.
Nothing weighing a ton and a half rolling down the road on tires is going to be silent!
The vehicles on "The Jetsons" made a FAR cooler noise.
I always swore that if I went electric I would engineer that particular sound into the car, complete with acceleration and deceleration sounds.
Listen:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yjy-fnsmWR4
Next up: Downloadable Engine-Tones.
My choice: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JXK63kvUi6U&fmt=18
Yessss, I'm going to Rickroll everyone.
As someone who lives over a busy street and hears every jackass in a modded Harley Davidson or low rider fly past at 3AM, it's really fantastic that someone has decided we need more noise on the streets.
There's a difference between necessity and being a wanker.