EVs Will Make You Honk More: This Is Why

Indian roads and the drama they carry are truly quintessential. You can expect anything from a cow to an unwarned autoriksaw or a jaywalking passenger to jump in front of you at any point in time. Bumper-to-bumper runs in most cities have the drivers honking heavily despite their vehicles being loud enough with their engines. Have you imagined the plight of EV owners in such scenarios? With these being absolutely silent, the low-speed approach of an EV is indeed hard to take note of. Recently an EV owner raised this concern on Reddit and had several others join the discussion soon.

An Unspoken downside of owning an EV
byu/ApprehensiveBass1512 inCarsIndia

The post talks about the risk posed by electric vehicles to unsuspecting jaywalking pedestrians, 2-wheelers and autorickshaws around. These could swerve in front of EVs in the last moment and the driver could simply be unable to execute a safe stop in many a case.

Most such cases could have been avoided if the electric vehicles had some kind of auditory warning mechanisms in place. Most people would read this as ‘horn’, as it is the auditory warning that we are the most familiar with. People using EVs often honk much more than those using ICE (petrol/diesel) vehicles.

For us to be safe, an early warning of the approaching vehicle is necessary. Many a time, the first hints are the engine sound and tyre noise of the oncoming vehicle. In the case of electric vehicles, you don’t have the engine sound. EV tyres, further, are designed to be quieter and smoother than regular ones.

 

View this post on Instagram

 

A post shared by CarToq (@cartoq_dotcom)

To compensate for this, modern electric vehicles are equipped with an audio warning system called AVAS. It expands to Acoustic Vehicle Alerting System (AVAS). In many global markets, electric vehicles come with this warning system. In India, the Curvv EV was one of the first electric vehicles to debut this system. In the time that followed, even some of the strong hybrid variants of the Maruti Suzuki Grand Vitara got this feature.

What Is AVAS?

Many foreign countries have already mandated AVAS systems on electric and electrified vehicles. Many nations made this compulsory in 2019. It is more or less a sound-emitting equipment (speaker or actuator) that produces low-volume artificial sounds to warn vulnerable road users (VRU) about an approaching EV which is otherwise silent! The VRU here includes pedestrians, cyclists, and children.

In most cases, these sounds are made by vibrating structural elements based on the vehicle velocity, throttle position and gear. This means the system will produce a different sound while reversing. The EV sound design space is currently witnessing much commotion and development. Modern EVs could sound like anything- V8 supercars, fighter jets, spaceships, tin cans or even Santa’s sleigh! The EV sound design is an open space and people are already experimenting.

AVAS: Rules And Regulations

In many countries, like the USA for example, the regulations say that electric vehicles and hybrids should emit EV-spec sounds when operating under 20 mph. This is particularly for helping the blind and vision-impaired people to spot these. The country has also set some lines that manufacturers are expected to not cross. Sounds that distract or drown out pedestrian alerts cannot be used on AVAS systems- example: ice cream truck jingle.

The AVAS warnings should also meet set minimum sound pressure levels and cannot vary between units of the same model, model year etc. The Indian government hasn’t yet made AVAS mandatory, nor has it set regulations and guidelines for it.