By Michael ConallyForget about mobile phone ringtones; those are just toys for the trendy, urban commandos! Say hello instead to car tones, tomorrow’s hot new kid on the block!
This at least is the idea being developed for drivers of electric cars which are so quiet they could cause problems for pedestrians, particularly blind ones trying to decide the speed and distance of approaching cars.
So car manufacturers have been looking at ways to introduce “artificial noise” to simulate the “car like” noise. This is the basic idea of the car tone! Ingenious car makers have already calculated they could make and market car tones in a manner similar to how mobile phone ring tones are used today. The character and novelty of the car tone could then be limited only by the imagination.
For instance think about James Bond, Star Trek, Doctor Who, Bhangra, Soca or even Dancehall reggae sounds hurtling pass you while you’re out on the road and you’ll get the idea.
But, having car tones is not just to satisfy trendy people’s appetite for such things. Government transport departments in Japan, Britain and the United States are already debating whether they should be complusory given the dangerously quiet nature of electric vehicles.
Besides, they could also find a way of taxing the tones or levying some kind of payment pressure on the vehicles themselves to offset the cost of administration.
And what if other road useres and pedestrians don’t like your choice of car tone? They could cover their ears with music from headphones, of course, or drivers could simply change their car tone. Maybe there will be guidelines on the sound level of these tones so as not to be a nuisance.
Besides the fun element car tones in electric cars is just one of the ways of sexing up the humble electric motor car now widely seen as a key consideration in the fight against pollution and encouraging a greener planet.
The stakes are high but if the relevant parties can get the balance right the sound that has just whizzed past you at 80 km per hour may not only rock your world, but could possibly save it too!
Posted on 
15 July, 2010 in 
TechSpec | 
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