Mercedes Benz of Arrowhead Official Blog
Silent But Deadly (Not Really)
By blogsadmin | Posted in How Things Work, Mercedes-Benz, smart on Tuesday, November 15th, 2016 at 9:50 pm
What Is the smart fortwo electric drive Sound Generator?
As technology advances, more and more benefits arise from electric cars. They are now cheaper to build, they travel further distances, and, for the sake of this article, they are peacefully quiet. Almost completely silent even. While this is definitely a cause for celebration to those in big cities that can’t get away from the sound of traffic even in the middle of the night, but there are other side effects associated with transitioning to the electric car.
“I Didn’t Hear It Coming”
Electric vehicles still only represent a small percentage of road traffic, but the number grows faster every day. One thing you may not have considered with electric cars is that without an engine, there is only a faint hum of the motor as the car zips down the road. In some cases, this has caused accidents because pedestrians aren’t able to hear the vehicle coming. Especially for deaf or hearing-impaired pedestrians, the noise of the traffic is actually very important.
2017 smart fortwo electric drive Sound Generator
To help warn pedestrians of its impending arrival, the new 2017 smart fortwo electric drive uses an acoustic sound generator hidden behind the radiator grille. The sound generator is speed sensitive, meaning in the same way that a car accelerating faster will be louder than a car accelerating slowly, the sound generator gets louder with acceleration, mimicking the noises of a car. Once the car gets to 18 miles per hour, however, the noise of the tires and wind mask the sound of the generator, making it no longer necessary. If you have any questions about the sound generator or any other cool features of the new 2017 smart fortwo electric drive, leave a comment in the section below!
