Drivers Could Choose EV Alert Sounds

Sept. 7, 2019—The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) proposes that instead of one sound per electric vehicle, drivers should be able to select an electric-car alert sound, per a report by CNET.

NHTSA wants the public's opinion "on whether there should be a limit to the number of compliant sounds that a manufacturer can install in a vehicle and what that limit should be."

As of this month, automakers are required to equip 50 percent of their "quiet cars," which applies to silent electric vehicles, with an alert noise at low speeds. The rules, first brought about in 2010, have been delayed for years, but come 2020, every quiet vehicle will need the alert mechanism.