Living in the country as I do, I am often walking the narrow quiet lanes around my home in Herefordshire. As you can imagine my peaceful idol is often disturbed by a motor car or two which also use the lanes. There is nothing wrong in that, as long as they are not moving too fast that is, as because I can hear them, I move to the side of the road and let them pass.
‘Silent death’ risk of electric cars
But what will happen when electric cars start to move out of the cities and into the countryside, will they have to make them noisy, just so people like me have time to get out of the way? The alternative of course is that the driver of the car gives a polite hoot of their horn, but I cannot see this going down too well with some (when was the last time you heard a bicycle bell) as they may (a) be given a fright or (b) may take offence at being asked to move.
Not a New Issue
This is not a new issue, in fact the BBC raised the issue back in May 2011, when the first signs of pressure on electric vehicle manufactures started. This was to do with the fact that in cities the increased number of these totally quiet cars were starting to make things difficult for the hard of hearing.
Trolleybuses and Silent Death
Even that is not new however, as back in the days of electric trolley buses, the number of people killed by these silent vehicles caused the occurrence to be nick named ‘Silent Death’. Of course the electric trolley bus is no longer with us, but the number of electric cars and buses is bound to increase as the efficiency of the power units and especially the batteries and the range that they provide improves.
Manufacturers are Taking Note
It seems that the manufacturers are starting to take notice too, Nissan being amongst those planning to fit loudspeakers to their cars for the safety of other road users. Of course, those thinking that the electric car will reduce noise levels in cities, and rejoicing in the fact, are upset that there are plans to make them noisy on purpose.
As ever, the result will be a compromise, the amount of sound being produced being the minimum possible to make things safe. Of course, the issues for urban and country will be different, so perhaps the sounds and their levels will have to be different too, all quite a lot to think about.
What Happens In The Countryside?
Of course it will be some time before the electric car makes it in numbers to the countryside, perhaps one of the first to make it there in the UK being the Vauxhall Ampera. This is not a totally electric car, it having a small petrol driven generator on board. This mixture gives a range of some 360 miles in all, and at least when the generator is running it will emit some noise, but I doubt whether it will be as noisy as a conventional car. So the noise issue, or at least the lack of noise, is going to rumble on and as I say, is something that will be perhaps, of more concern to residents in the countryside than those in the city, the latter are after all expecting cars to be about.
In the meantime your motor car will of course require engine oils and other automotive fluids (as do their electric cousins ) so if you feel like a change from the big name producers, then check out the products made by www.exol-lubricants.com, after all sometimes it pays not to buy everything from the ‘big boys’
