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ElectriCute

Well-known member
Joined
Oct 29, 2021
Messages
72
When you purchase a new car, do you listen out for any sounds, unfamiliar sounds? You might say that I'm a bit paranoid here, but if something sounds odd to you, it might be either normal, or an indication something is not right.

When starting off, we hear that inbuilt tone that goes away once you exceed 25mph. Starting off slow and increasing speed very gradually, I notice an odd sound between 20 to 25mph. It almost sounds like a scratchy sound. That might not be a good example of what that sounds like, but a different sound is present. It's there every time I start off. Try it, and see if you notice it. Turn off your audio and fans so you can hear better.

While driving along the highway yesterday holding my speed at around 65mph, I noticed a sound that just became noticeable one would most likely associate coming from an electric motor. As soon as I slightly reduce speed, the sound went away. It's present/noticeable only at higher speeds, and stops as soon as you slightly reduce pressure on the accelerator. Mind you, it's not present all the time.

OK, I know you are most likely thinking I'm being a bit paranoid, but they are noticeable. I just want to know if these odd sounds are normal or not. Thank you for your understanding, and if I gave anyone a moment of laughter, I'm pleased. 😀
 
There is a somewhat high switching frequency in the motor drive electronics aka inverter. This is the pulse width modulation (PWM) frequency commonly found around 20kHz or higher in order to not be audible to humans, but evidently you have good ears and hearing still in that hf region.
 
IIRC this is a brand new car right? I think you are finally hearing what an electric car sounds like- no other noises to drown out the electronics and wheel noises. I say embrace them, since these cars have soi few problems that a real issue seems very unlikely!
 
dmacarthur said:
IIRC this is a brand new car right? I think you are finally hearing what an electric car sounds like- no other noises to drown out the electronics and wheel noises. I say embrace them, since these cars have soi few problems that a real issue seems very unlikely!

I will. Love the car. EVs are new to me. First time around.
 
nlspace said:
There is a somewhat high switching frequency in the motor drive electronics aka inverter. This is the pulse width modulation (PWM) frequency commonly found around 20kHz or higher in order to not be audible to humans, but evidently you have good ears and hearing still in that hf region.

Actually, I do have good hearing, and I tune in to every sort of sound. You acquire that ability when you have worked in a recording studio. If only I could shut it it off.
 
A couple of days ago when i had the chance to test drive a 21 SV plus (while waiting for my New 22' SV plus to be delivered), and I'm very used to listening for unusual sounds. If there were, they were drowned out by the Lone Rangers new sidekick "Canto"...
 
ElectriCute said:
OK, I know you are most likely thinking I'm being a bit paranoid, but they are noticeable. I just want to know if these odd sounds are normal or not. Thank you for your understanding, and if I gave anyone a moment of laughter, I'm pleased. 😀
I was the same way, first time driving my 2013 Leaf. A lot of the car sounds are covered up by even a quiet ICE car engine.
Brake pad clicks for example or the gear wine is another. Also, loud tires are lot more noticeable. Even the heatpump has a unique sound to get accustomed to. My Leaf is so quiet, I could hear the faith clink of a screw that got stuck in my tire and had to be fixed. Once you are accustomed to all the quirk sounds, then if something sounds out of place, like my tire clink, can you look around for a cause or ask if anyone here has heard something similar before.
 
Speaking of loud tires: some tires aren't loud, but do make different noises at different speeds. If it isn't that 20khz sound, I think it's likely the tires. You can try changing the inflation pressure by 2psi or so, and seeing if the noise changes, goes away, or if you hear it at a different speed. What I hate is noise that appears at the speed(s) at which I usually drive...
 
knightmb said:
ElectriCute said:
OK, I know you are most likely thinking I'm being a bit paranoid, but they are noticeable. I just want to know if these odd sounds are normal or not. Thank you for your understanding, and if I gave anyone a moment of laughter, I'm pleased. 😀
I was the same way, first time driving my 2013 Leaf. A lot of the car sounds are covered up by even a quiet ICE car engine.
Brake pad clicks for example or the gear wine is another. Also, loud tires are lot more noticeable. Even the heatpump has a unique sound to get accustomed to. My Leaf is so quiet, I could hear the faith clink of a screw that got stuck in my tire and had to be fixed. Once you are accustomed to all the quirk sounds, then if something sounds out of place, like my tire clink, can you look around for a cause or ask if anyone here has heard something similar before.

After driving the car now for awhile, I am accustomed to it's odd sounds. Odd meaning different from what I'm used in many years of driving ICE cars. But, I feel it would be nice if these sounds generated in reverse and while driving up to about 25mph be lowered a bit. I hate reversing out of a parking spot and have heads turn in my direction. I mean, really, do new ICE cars generate that much noise? Case in point; my previous vehicle was a Honda CR-V. When my wife drove it into the carport, I didn't hear a whisper from inside the house. I had no idea she was home until I heard the keys at the door. When she drives the Leaf into the carport, I can hear it loud and clear. Yes, a generated sound is a good idea, especially from a pedestrian's point of view, but does it have to be that loud? Honestly, I wish there was a way of turning it down some.
 
ElectriCute said:
When she drives the Leaf into the carport, I can hear it loud and clear. Yes, a generated sound is a good idea, especially from a pedestrian's point of view, but does it have to be that loud? Honestly, I wish there was a way of turning it down some.
I thought the same thing with my Leaf, starting with my 2013. Once LeafSpy gave us a way to disable all of those sounds, I thought "Great, more options". So disabled *all* the sounds on mine at first, I wanted to go stealth mode. In theory, if your hearing was good enough, you could still hear the high-pitch hum of the inverter when close.

The first week of driving in *stealth* mode, I had this happen while driving.
Going in reverse, no one pays attention to the reverse lights. Multiple times I almost hit pedestrians who would walk right into the path of me reversing, even when I am moving very *slowly* in parking lots and I can see them clearly. At first, it was funny because it startles them, but then one day a lady fell over, streaming because she thought she was about to get run over. It wasn't funny anymore. When driving slowly *forward* through a parking lot, too many people would again, walk right out in front of me because the noise from all the other ICE drivers was easy for them to look one way and walk another. With no noise from the Leaf, my slow movement wouldn't catch their attention if they were not looking directly at me.

It didn't take long for me to learn that people depend more on hearing other cars than seeing them and I lot of that seems to depend on if they are not paying enough attention because they are on the phone talking or doing social media. The other bit is kids are more accustomed to hearing vehicles also, so they are the worst about getting in the way to the screaming detriment of the parents.

My compromise was to only disable my reverse sound and install super, super, bright reverse lights. I had more trouble *not* having forward sound, so I always left that enabled. With the super bright reverse lights, it gets the attention of people to watch out.

Other than turning them on and off, I have seen some other forum members here write about various ways to lower the volume of the VPS with speaker replacements or covering the speakers with something to dull the noise but still keep enough to avoid surprising people on the streets while driving. I'm sure they will chime in here at some point.
 
I think the newest cars have 2 VSP speakers while the earlier cars only have 1. I wonder if they're wired in parallel to a single amplifier channel, and if so, how hard would it be to wire them in series instead. That would reduce the power to the speakers to 1/4th of the original power for a 6dB reduction in volume.
 
knightmb said:
ElectriCute said:
When she drives the Leaf into the carport, I can hear it loud and clear. Yes, a generated sound is a good idea, especially from a pedestrian's point of view, but does it have to be that loud? Honestly, I wish there was a way of turning it down some.
I thought the same thing with my Leaf, starting with my 2013. Once LeafSpy gave us a way to disable all of those sounds, I thought "Great, more options". So disabled *all* the sounds on mine at first, I wanted to go stealth mode. In theory, if your hearing was good enough, you could still hear the high-pitch hum of the inverter when close.

The first week of driving in *stealth* mode, I had this happen while driving.
Going in reverse, no one pays attention to the reverse lights. Multiple times I almost hit pedestrians who would walk right into the path of me reversing, even when I am moving very *slowly* in parking lots and I can see them clearly. At first, it was funny because it startles them, but then one day a lady fell over, streaming because she thought she was about to get run over. It wasn't funny anymore. When driving slowly *forward* through a parking lot, too many people would again, walk right out in front of me because the noise from all the other ICE drivers was easy for them to look one way and walk another. With no noise from the Leaf, my slow movement wouldn't catch their attention if they were not looking directly at me.

It didn't take long for me to learn that people depend more on hearing other cars than seeing them and I lot of that seems to depend on if they are not paying enough attention because they are on the phone talking or doing social media. The other bit is kids are more accustomed to hearing vehicles also, so they are the worst about getting in the way to the screaming detriment of the parents.

My compromise was to only disable my reverse sound and install super, super, bright reverse lights. I had more trouble *not* having forward sound, so I always left that enabled. With the super bright reverse lights, it gets the attention of people to watch out.

Other than turning them on and off, I have seen some other forum members here write about various ways to lower the volume of the VPS with speaker replacements or covering the speakers with something to dull the noise but still keep enough to avoid surprising people on the streets while driving. I'm sure they will chime in here at some point.

It would be nice to be able to drive in stealth mode, as you mentioned, but it is advisable to have some sound to alert people. Still, it would be nice if one could tone it down a bit. Now, if it was possible to program an authentic sound of a rumbling big block V8, I wouldn't mind that one bit. :lol:

I do hope, as you mentioned, someone who knows how to lower the sound chimes in.

Thanks for the reply.
Cheers.
 
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