I can see his pointy little ears poking through the living room window by the time I roll up. Before I can see the house, before he even sleepily raises himself from his dog bed, my boy Kickflip knows I'm coming. And it's all thanks to the space-ship hum of my Chevy Blazer EV.
I'm sure you've heard it, or something similar, when a neighbor's hybrid or EV drives by. Since 2016, the feds have required all EVs and hybrids to emit a pedestrian warning noise when traveling below 30 km/h (18.6 mph), ensuring that your local vision-impaired jogger isn't surprised by a 5,000-pound car moving in complete silence. Above that speed, the tire roar of the car is loud enough to alert you on your own, the thinking goes.
Flip in his favorite car on Earth.
Photo by: Mack Hogan/InsideEVs
Each brand uses a slightly different approach, with Tesla's warning sound being the most cartoonish and space-ship-like to my ears, and some sounding closer to the unsexy, platonic ideal warning sound: pink noise. Yet most stick to the same basic approach, adopting the soundtrack of an idling hoverboard or a vacuum cleaner from the year 3,000. Listen to a Hyundai or a Toyota or a Honda or a Chevy drive by on electric power alone, and you'd be hard-pressed to hear the difference.
