Nissan Presents Leaf Sound for Pedestrians...

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Jay said:
evnow said:
Yanquetino said:
I know Gm-Volt.com has to come at this from a certain angle (heck I do author the occasional piece there...although I think I am fairly even handed), but those have not been faked. Well, I guess you could suggest they have been faked by Nissan, as they used stock footage.

I know because I dug those out myself from Nissan's website, and from there up to youtube.com (because Nissan's site from Japan is wicked slow)


Here is the source link I got them from:
http://www.nissan-newsroom.com/JPN/en/PRODUCTS/ZEROEMISSION/ze_100611-01.html

Thanks for the link.

Did anyone else notice the SOC indicator lights on the dash cowl? That's a nice idea.

Still odd that Nissan would superimpose a sound on old footage instead of from a newly-equipped vehicle in actual operation. Still makes me wonder if that's the actual final version. They really don't make much in the way of claims, other than implying the footage is from the test-drive event, which doesn't seem to be the case.
 
Those noisemaker sounds are disgusting...just hideous. If I do end up with a Leaf I will have them disabled within the week....unbelievable that they're making us do this to what should be beautifully quiet vehicles.
 
I saw that Nissan has a video about the new sounds on their facebook page.

http://www.facebook.com/video/video.php?v=10100225651968509

While the forward moving sound is not horrible, I find the whole idea annoying. Let's make our world more chaotic and noisy! I like the idea of 2 car horns. 1 is the normal loud horn, and the 2nd is the quiet warning sound. There have been times when I have been driving behind someone and I could tell they didn't know I was there. Rather than yelling at them, if I could generate a quite sound, that would do the trick.

I find the backup noise really horrible. I really hope we can disable it.

-Peter
 
Here is the low-speed driving sound: http://chir.ps/5Cb

And here is the backing up sound (without the "fake" video): http://chir.ps/5Cc

Maybe I am too naive or just plain cantankerous, but I am convinced it is all for naught. If you hit a pedestrian --blind, sighted, deaf, wearing earphones, or just plain stupid--, whether or not your vehicle is silent, beeping, chirping or whining loudly, you will get your a$$ sued. Period. It is the driver's responsibility to NOT hit someone. You can't wash your hands of that responsibility by installing a speaker behind the car's grill.

I can well imagine the case in court:

LAWYER: Did you hear this sound before you stepped off the curve? (Plays recording.)

BLIND PEDESTRIAN: Yes.

LAWYER: Then why did you step off the curve?

BLIND PEDESTRIAN: I thought it was a jet plane flying overhead.
 
Yanquetino said:
Maybe I am too naive or just plain cantankerous, but I am convinced it is all for naught. If you hit a pedestrian --blind, sighted, deaf, wearing earphones, or just plain stupid--, whether or not your vehicle is silent, beeping, chirping or whining loudly, you will get your a$$ sued. Period. It is the driver's responsibility to NOT hit someone. You can't wash your hands of that responsibility by installing a speaker behind the car's grill.

Absolutely.

The sound is to help Nissan (and other auto manufacturers) wash their hands off.
 
evnow said:
Yanquetino said:
Maybe I am too naive or just plain cantankerous, but I am convinced it is all for naught. If you hit a pedestrian --blind, sighted, deaf, wearing earphones, or just plain stupid--, whether or not your vehicle is silent, beeping, chirping or whining loudly, you will get your a$$ sued. Period. It is the driver's responsibility to NOT hit someone. You can't wash your hands of that responsibility by installing a speaker behind the car's grill.

Absolutely.

The sound is to help Nissan (and other auto manufacturers) wash their hands off.

I wonder if your insurance company would cover the pedestrian medical costs if you had disabled the noise maker. I might want to disable it if it sounds like a stupid exhaust whistle like this, but I'd feel more comfortable having some kind of noise in its place because of the risk of losing insurance coverage for any incident.

Why can't they just make it sound like the fuel pump in an ICE vehicle? Sounds like a low volume whine, easily heard in a quiet environment, and if you're in a noisy city environment you can't even hear a 4-cylinder ICE anyway. Even some EVs have a whine like that from their motor and/or power controller/inverter.
 
We are unneccessarily sweating this.

Considering all the other things - this sound would be the easiest to change for Nissan. In anycase, apparently the new bill will ask National Highway commission to decide on the allowed sounds. That is finally what we will get.

I've a feeling the sounds are possibly something that may be appreciated in Japan - but not in US. Nissan should change the sound in US ...
 
prberg said:
While the forward moving sound is not horrible, I find the whole idea annoying. Let's make our world more chaotic and noisy! I like the idea of 2 car horns. 1 is the normal loud horn, and the 2nd is the quiet warning sound. There have been times when I have been driving behind someone and I could tell they didn't know I was there. Rather than yelling at them, if I could generate a quite sound, that would do the trick.
I have to admit that I believe this is one thing Nissan has done wrong and GM has done right. They say in the Volt that if you flash your high beams when driving at a low speed it will also emit some quiet warning sound. To me that makes perfect sense. Both an audio and a visual alert with one natural motion.
 
What is required for "noise" will depend upon what the possibly-to-be-enacted US laws require.

We will need to fight each objectional law, at least insisting that all quieter vehicles (including electric mobility chairs, bicycles, ICEs, golf carts, etc.) are treated equally, not just a law for EVs.
Also, the affected vehicles (those required to add noise) should not be required to be any louder than the QUIETEST "other" (non-affected) vehicle at the same speed.

There could be other factons that will lobby with big $$ to make the EV as objectional as possible. You might guess who that could be.
 
I have suggested to our site administrator to post a poll to gather our opinions on the proposed VSP, something :?: like this:
What is your opinion of the VSP (Vehicle Sound for Pedestrians) in the Leaf?

[_] I have no problem with the VSP that Nissan has proposed to put in the vehicle.
[_] I think that VSP is a good idea, but I do not want the sound proposed by those "experts."
[_] I understand the need for VSP, but I want it to be driver controlled like on the EV1 by "flashing" the high-beam lever at low speeds.
[_] Nissan can go ahead and install VSP in my Leaf, but I will likely disable it.
[_] I do not want VSP in my Leaf. Period. That is what the horn is for already.
The administrator will probably want to alter the wording and choices, as I know I am too verbose, but I DO think that Nissan needs to listen to the opinions of those who have put down deposits for the Leaf --and not just acquiesce to the pressures of government, lobbyists, EV naysayers, etc.
 
Yanquetino said:
I have suggested to our site administrator to post a poll to gather our opinions on the proposed VSP, something :?: like this:

I'm not the administrator - but I can post the poll.
 
mwalsh said:
cmjars said:
Wow... this is a deal breaker for me. Those sounds are awful :shock:


They are installing an "off" switch. But the default setting, when you start the car, is "on". So it's something else you have to think of before you move off. Unless you disable it altogether.


So you can disable it all the time or each time you start the car?
 
cmjars said:
So you can disable it all the time or each time you start the car?

You can switch it off everytime you start the car.

I plan to switch it off once I'm out of the garage / parking lot - so that it doesn't whine everytime I slow down at turns, stops or traffic lights.
 
Is it possible that Nissan made these videos and sounds just to show the lawmakers just how ridiculous the proposal is? Whether they did or did not do it on purpose it is having this effect and I for one am glad for this. I've always thought the law was dumb. I've been driving an ev for 15 years and have never had an issue.
 
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