Nissan wants LEAF EV to sound like Blade Runner car for safety

[ZilviaBot]

09-18-2009 09:58 AM

Filed under: Safety (http://www.autoblog.com/category/safety/), Hatchback (http://www.autoblog.com/category/hatchbacks/), Nissan (http://www.autoblog.com/category/nissan/), Alternative Fuel (http://www.autoblog.com/category/alternative-fuel/)

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2010 Nissan Leaf EV - Click above for high-res image gallery

While advocates have long heralded a reduction in noise pollution in addition to air pollution as advantages of electric vehicles, not everyone is convinced that silent cars are a good thing.

We use our senses to navigate through life and when one or more of them are diminished, we rely on the others. Such is the case for blind people who must use their hearing to make up for some visual deficit. Every automaker working on electrified vehicles is aware of this and researching what sorts of sounds those vehicles should make for safety reasons.

For instance, Nissan engineer Toshiyuki Tabata has spent his career making cars quieter, but is now working on the LEAF to have it create sound. No final decision has been made, but reports tell us that Nissan is currently leaning toward making the LEAF sound like the whining flying cars in the film Blade Runner.


Gallery: 2010 Nissan Leaf EV (http://www.autoblog.com/photos/nissan-leaf/low/)

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[Source: Bloomberg (http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601101&sid=aOk3fMO.kupc)]Nissan wants LEAF EV to sound like Blade Runner car for safety (http://www.autoblog.com/2009/09/18/nissan-wants-leaf-ev-to-sound-like-em-blade-runner-em-car-for/) originally appeared on Autoblog (http://www.autoblog.com) on Fri, 18 Sep 2009 10:58:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds (http://www.weblogsinc.com/feed-terms/).



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[BustedS13]

this honestly makes me want one ten times more than i did 30 seconds ago.

According to a report, Nissan sound engineer Toshiyuki Tabata who used to work on making gas-powered cars quieter, is now working on sound effects for his company’s upcoming pure electric 100 mile range LEAF.
“We fought for so long to get rid of that noisy engine sound,” said Tabata, “With electric cars, we took a completely different approach and listened to composers talk music theory.”
Apparently the sound Tabata came up with is “beautiful and futuristic,” and resulted from consultations with Japanese composers of film scores.
The resulting sound is reminiscent of the flying cars known as ‘Spinners’ found in the 1982 film Blade Runner, it is a high-pitched metallic whir.
Nissan presented the sound to the NHTSA on September 3rd, and although no federal guidelines yet exist, the automaker may equip the LEAF with the sound when it launches in the US at the end of next year.
The sound would start as soon as the car is turned on and would go off above 12 MPH.
“We don’t want to destroy the brand of the electric car,” said Tabata. “We want to have something that will enhance its image

awesome.
they should have multiple sound options, too. like tatooine landspeeder, blade runner spinner, BTTF delorean, tarzan yell, etc

[FaLKoN240]

I HATE the sound of a Prius when it rolls by.

It sounds like ROLLING EVIL.

[kingkilburn]

All they have to do is throw some kind of whistle on some where with a clutch so it goes off past a certain speed.

I'm liking the sound of a WW2 dive bomber.

[iROYAL]

I vote for a tie fighter sound. That would be cool..

[BustedS13]

tie fighter would be rad.

man. the more i look at it, though, the uglier that front end gets. cmon, nissan. that shit is bad.

[Ghostdrifter]

The whistles go WHOOOOO!! you spose to be up cookin' breakfast or sumthin it's like an alam clock!

[xpertsnowcarver]

I can't think of a sound that wouldn't get annoying after a while.... maybe have a bank of sounds and let the drive choose?

[meteorite_flo]

The whistles go WHOOOOO!! you spose to be up cookin' breakfast or sumthin it's like an alam clock!

http://www.public-dns.org/realultimatetips/bubbrub.jpg

WOO WOOOOOOOOOO.

[illvialuver]

that would be awesome. I think I will watch that movie now. I love it.