Hybrid and electric vehicles have been called "silent killers" because they run so quietly that pedestrians and bicyclists can't hear 'em coming and get plowed. It's a big enough problem that Congress is looking into it, and a pair of Stanford University students have developed a pretty novel way to bring the noise to hybrids. Their solution? Slap some speakers under wheel wells and crank up the "vroom-vroom" noise.
It's an elegant solution. But is the sound of an engine the best they could come up with?
The fact hybrids and electric vehicles are so quiet is a serious problem that's getting a lot of press these days. An 8-year-old Minneapolis boy was hit last month by a Toyota Prius that he didn't hear, and the National Federation of the Blind has reported several close calls involving blind pedestrians. And you know it's a serious problem when Congress wakes up long enough to get 16 lawmakers to back a bill requiring hybrids and electric vehicles emit a minimum level of noise.
Leave it to a pair of engineering doctoral candidates to figure out a simple solution to the problem. Everett Meyer and Brian Bai have founded Enhanced Vehicle Acoustics, and they're hawking a device that is, essentially, a speaker under each wheel well that emits the sound of an internal combustion engine. They call it PANDA, or "Pedestrian Awareness Noise-emitting Device and Application."
They worked with someone calling himself a psychoacoustics expert to determine that, of all the sounds suggested for the system - from the sound of horse hooves to various effects from "Star Wars" - pedestrians prefer the sound of a gasoline engine. The system requires no more power than the car's radio, and it shuts down at speeds above 25 mph because the wind noise of the vehicle is loud enough for pedestrians to hear.
Don't want your Prius to sound like it's burning gasoline? No problem. The company's Web site promises, "the PANDA system allows drivers, companies or municipalities to potentially establish their own external automobile sound identities - all within a well-recognizable and respectful soundscape."
We suggest a sly chuckle every time a Prius passes a Hummer.
No word yet on when PANDA will be available or what it will cost.