Electric cars in the European Union no longer benefit from their signature silent acceleration. Instead, they need to sound like gas cars. A new law taking effect in the EU Monday aims to improve safety by ensuring that pedestrians—including those who are sight impaired or distracted—can hear electric cars as they approach. The new law... Breaking the silence: In Europe, EVs must sound like gas cars
Electric cars in the European Union no longer benefit from their signature silent acceleration. Instead, they need to sound like gas cars. A new law taking effect in the EU Monday aims to improve safety by ensuring that pedestrians—including those who are sight impaired or distracted—can hear electric cars as they approach. The new law... 
Less than two years from now, barring action by the Trump administration, a National Highway Traffic and Safety Administration rule will require hybrid and electric cars to produce an audible noise under 19 mph. Alongside its Nissan IMx self-driving electric SUV concept it launched at the recent Tokyo Motor Show, the maker of the world's... 
Modern electric cars have been on U.S. roads for seven years or so, and owners love their smooth, quiet, close to noise-free operation. That silence has been a bone of contention for even longer, however, since hybrids operating purely on battery power are similarly quiet. For years, the U.S. Department of Transportation was charged with drafting... 
The U.S. government finally issued its long-debated rules for noise-making devices in so-called "quiet cars." They require all new hybrid and plug-in electric cars to emit noises that alert pedestrians to their presence. Because these cars operate near-silently on electric power, regulators have expressed concerns that they constitute a greater...