Going deaf in the Leaf?

I love this car. My only problem lately has been that I've noticed after driving it for 7000 miles I feel like I'm going deaf in it. I tried it with the music off just to make sure. Silence or music, I'd get home after 40 freeway miles I still felt deaf. Similar to the feeling when you descend over a period of time from a major elevation, like coming back from a ski trip. That kind of deafness.

My feeling is that the car is too hermetically closed and becomes pressurized as air is fanned it and it isn't properly venting out. I know it must have those passive vents somewhere in the back but they may not work properly. My newest trick is to crack the rear windows a bit and see if it helps. I haven't had a chance to really try it yet because my boss' boss "found out" about my charging at work and put a swift kibosh to it. So now may daughter has the car most of the time and I'm back to my ICE Honda - no deafness there.

Anyone out there has a similar "going deaf" experience?

No. I'm going a bit blind, but I haven't been able to pin that on the LEAF.

No, I like the quietness of the Leaf. Hearing hasn't changed a bit.

The quietness on really low-noise pavement is Splendid.

No, I still cannot hear well.
And, I an forgetting more things.
But, unlikely I can blame the LEAF for either.

You might be experiencing Reduced Pressure effects:
I have not experienced any over-pressure (or, more likely, reduced-pressure)
effects on my eardrums, but I always drive with the windows shut and
the A/C and Fan on... which would tend to pressurize the cabin.
(or, combat any reduced-pressure effects)

Is your back hatch well sealed?

There are "pressure relief valves" in the back of the cabin, in front of the rear bumper (in an airplane, we would call these "outflow" valves).

I cannot imagine that any pressure could build up.

Hugh?



:lol:

I'd imagine the Leaf's drive electronics do a lot of switchmode energy conversion, and at their power levels, components like inductors and capacitors can vibrate. A common practice is to use switching frequencies above the audio range to avoid audible whining or noise. Could it be that the drive electronics in your car produce an unusually high level of ultrasonic energy? I don't know how one would go about it, but has anyone investigated the Leaf's "sound" level (if that's the right term) in the ultrasonic spectrum?

My husband is severely hearing impaired and he finds the Leaf amazingly quiet and the best "car-related" thing that's ever happened for his hearing! We can actually have a conversation in the car when before it was always extremely difficult.

His hearing loss came on gradually through the years and has gotten progressively worst. I forwarded him this thread and his thoughts were that perhaps the intense quietness of the car makes hearing harder once one is back "in the elements." Realizing that one has a hearing loss problem is very difficult. His was imperceptible for some time because our lives today are surrounded by so much noise . . . .

We love our LEAF!

Good point, Levenkay. That was my thought as well, that the car generates something out of hearing range, yet able to affect my ears. I mean I can hear the thing whine until about 40 mph, then the sound rises beyond 16,500 Hz and then what, right? What's the intensity of the ultrasound? I'm not a physicist, but this is basic stuff.

Anyone has any experience with dogs in the Leaf? Any behaviors? Dogs can hear up to 40,000 Hz so they should -- technically -- suffer at highway speeds.

My 10-year old "puppies" seem to ride just fine in my LEAF ...
except when we are going to the "puppy doctor"!

I've noticed that since the actual vehicle is so quiet, I've noticed that everything outside of the car is a lot louder. My hearing is extremely good and I only experience discomfort with the baffling that sometimes occurs when the windows are open.

krakato said:

My husband is severely hearing impaired and he finds the Leaf amazingly quiet and the best "car-related" thing that's ever happened for his hearing! We can actually have a conversation in the car when before it was always extremely difficult.

His hearing loss came on gradually through the years and has gotten progressively worst. I forwarded him this thread and his thoughts were that perhaps the intense quietness of the car makes hearing harder once one is back "in the elements." Realizing that one has a hearing loss problem is very difficult. His was imperceptible for some time because our lives today are surrounded by so much noise . . . .

We love our LEAF!

Click to expand...

My wife was carpooling with the LEAF and one of the hearing impaired companions had the exact same experience. They could talk and understand conversations in the LEAF compared to a noisy ICE car.

So if you don't know you are losing some hearing, you get out of the LEAF (which you could hear great in cuz its quite) and suddenly can't hear people because of normal background noise. Aaaahhh, very interesting.

My mother has issues with hearing aids due to they amplify noise and 'muddle' or make conversation 'rumble'. I'm no expert on sound but when I record sounds and then listen to them later, I can hear many more things in the background from the recording than when I was making the recording. I suspect hearing is a bit more advanced and there can be a significant level of noise cancelling (filtering) by our ears than from a intermediate recording system or amplifier.

I think there's a name for what you're experiencing: the "deafening silence". :lol:

Nekota said:

I'm no expert on sound but when I record sounds and then listen to them later, I can hear many more things in the background from the recording than when I was making the recording. I suspect hearing is a bit more advanced and there can be a significant level of noise cancelling (filtering) by our ears than from a intermediate recording system or amplifier.

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Much of this is due the the binaural nature of human hearing; the brain uses directional cues as part of the filtering algorithm. Monaural recordings completely rob the listener of these cues and even stereophonic recordings, while better, do not reproduce the directional cues properly. Binarual recordings, made with a dummy head with microphone capsules in the ears and reproduced by headphones, provide the closest reproduction of the directional cues in a live event. Unfortunately, true binaural recordings a somewhat rare. (I have maybe a 5 binaural out of over 2000 CDs; all private label, small runs.)

Hearing loss may be the OP issue, and I would suggest getting to a doctor to check it out. The Leaf may have helped you become aware of a medical issue, not a car issue. I know people that have tininitus(?) or ringing in the ears due to health issues, and one told me his doctor worried about him doing the suicide thing due to the inability to treat it. Easy to blame something new as one gets older, not saying you are old, but with a driving age daughter you are not as young as you used to be.

Oh, and damn the boss that won't let you plug in! What a tightwad!

Oh, it's not about the cost of the juice. I actually paid for it as soon as the employer's chief engineer gave me the cost per kW. It came to 11 bucks a month. My bills are paid. Now the car sits in the driveway lookin' pretty. Gone is the 90 miles use per day. I'm back to my old ICE. It sucks. I had withdrawal effects. I got used to commuting in that thing so fast. It was so much fun!

The administrator's thing is: our company does not get involved in employees transportation to work. It's your problem how you get here as long as you swipe in on time.

A new transportation paradigm. Who's ever heard of that!Plugging in at work! The gall! The chutzpah! Take that thing outta here!... Yup. We're that trailblazers. I wrote to Sacramento. We need to sqeeze American business -- yet again -- for mandatory accomodation of electrics. Remember the seat belt fight? Congress had to force automakers put them in. American business doesn't give a s..t about anything unless and only if there is money to be made. You gotta twist the fat cat's arms to get them to do the right thing. I suspect we'd have no electics today if not for the mandated fleet mileage numbers they have to meet or pay fines. Forward looking American business means four inches in front of their noses. Even my employer. Building a brand new site, hundreds of parking spots for a lot of visitors. Chief engineer told them to prewire the parking spaces while the ground is open. You can only guess what they told him. It's cheaper to rip out nice new sidwalks 5 years later, you know. Four inches. That's all they see. Profit today.

My fight is not over yet. I have to put 3 people in one room for a chat and if I can't persuade this person to do the right thing for the polar bears, it's off to writing emails to the regional administrator. I bought the car to commute to work. Period. I'm not giving up.

ILETRIC said:

Oh, it's not about the cost of the juice.My fight is not over yet. I have to put 3 people in one room for a chat and if I can't persuade this person to do the right thing for the polar bears, it's off to writing emails to the regional administrator. I bought the car to commute to work. Period. I'm not giving up.

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Glad to hear it. You might see if there is a garage nearby that would work out a deal to let you charge in the meantime.

Best in all to you!

ILETRIC said:

Good point, Levenkay. That was my thought as well, that the car generates something out of hearing range, yet able to affect my ears. I mean I can hear the thing whine until about 40 mph, then the sound rises beyond 16,500 Hz and then what, right? What's the intensity of the ultrasound? I'm not a physicist, but this is basic stuff.

Anyone has any experience with dogs in the Leaf? Any behaviors? Dogs can hear up to 40,000 Hz so they should -- technically -- suffer at highway speeds.

Click to expand...

OK, I just took possession of my leaf and I find that with the audio system switched off (or turned down), I can clearly hear a whine inside the car, frequency proportional to the car speed. It's not very loud but I can clearly hear it, and I'm a 56-year-old with, at best, average for the age hearing. This post seems to be the only reference to such a whine.

Is this normal? I don't remember it from my test drive months ago. I'd like to know before I go back to my dealer for it.

Thanks