Audi E-Sound Offers Synthetic Sound for Electric Vehicles with Video

From a public safety perspective, one of the major problems with EVs is that they do not produce as much noise compared to an internal combustion engine. Pedestrians can not hear them coming, and the safety conscious are concerned that pedestrians are in danger. Audi thinks that it has found a solution with synthetic sound from electric cars that it calls E-sound. 

The Audi E-tron will emit sound based on the car's speed and the motor's load and rotation. A loudspeaker is attached to the underside of the car that uses between five and eight watts. A small amount of the sound will come into the cabin, but the low wattage is meant to be loud enough for pedestrians and cyclists to hear. The sound of the tires become loud enough for pedestrians to hear above 30km/h, but Audi says that it will continue the synthetic sound above this level. 

Audi says that the noise made by the E-tron is similar to a V8 that starts at a purr and grows to a growl but more nuanced. Audi is planning to make the sound for each E-tron unique. They will all be similar, but each one will be slightly different. 

Audi engineer Rudolf Halbmeir is responsible for the synthetic sound of the E-tron. He is also a composer and music producer in his spare time. 

“Some science-fiction films provided inspiration suitable for certain frequency ranges. But there was nothing in the real world which offered quite the right sound. When you compose music or sounds, you have to be true to your convictions. The moment you cut corners, you essentially end up with elevator music,” said Halbmeir in regards to his inspiration for the sound. 

Lotus developed a similar system for its electric Evora that emits synthetic engine sounds. 

Audi produced a video that allows you to hear the sounds that Halbmeir has been developing.