[Andy-Zoé-User]

I fitted one of those blip blip reversing light bulb to my Renault Zoe today , got it from a local motor factors . was looking for an LED version but they only had one with a filament / halogen bulb on top .

its good - its not ultra loud .. but thats good in a way (dont want to wake up the neighbourhood when reversing at night) but loud enough really if I am reversing and someone is walking near behind the car.
On my particular year of Zoe the pedestrian signal at the front only sounds when driving forward but there was no sound at all when reversing and it was ultra quiet! - maybe later Zoe's had the pedestrian speaker make a sound on reversing did they?

When i first put the bulb in the light lit but no beeps were sounding . So after a bit of investigating I found that the the polarity of the beep beep bulb was polarity dependant ie only beeped when positive and negative were a certain way , so what I had to do to get the bulb to beep was to take it apart and swap over the negative and positive wires inside the bulb and solder them back in! - anyway it worked then... saved me having to take it back to shop for a refund.

heres a video I done, I dont know how well the sound came out on the video , but its not bad IRL.

bleep bleep light

 

[dk6780]

Check the law in your jurisdiction, in the UK that's illegal in vehicles other than HGVs. As usual the laws an arse and I agree it's a sensible modification. Annoyingly LEAFs in the USA and Japan make a sound in reverse, but no-one has managed to turn it on for UK models.

 

[Andy-Zoé-User]

Check the law in your jurisdiction, in the UK that's illegal in vehicles other than HGVs. As usual the laws an arse and I agree it's a sensible modification. Annoyingly LEAFs in the USA and Japan make a sound in reverse, but no-one has managed to turn it on for UK models.

oh right - never even thought of that aspect . Yeah I know how loud those HGV ones can be

 

[foggy69]

The 2020 Kia Niro and Soul have an external beeping when you put them into reverse.

 

[Kiltox]

Check the law in your jurisdiction, in the UK that's illegal in vehicles other than HGVs. As usual the laws an arse and I agree it's a sensible modification. Annoyingly LEAFs in the USA and Japan make a sound in reverse, but no-one has managed to turn it on for UK models.

How can it be when loads of 3.5T panel vans have them?

 

[james rogerson]

The 2018 KIA NIRO PHEV has reverse audio warnings

 

[Andy-Zoé-User]

€17 - they see me coming LOL ... but it was an impulse buy, just saw it on the shelf and though yeah this is what my Zoe needs to make it safer when reversing - most probably only cost 1.50 to make lol

 

[cah197]

Instead of an annoying noise, I just look behind me or in the reversing camera to make sure I don't run anyone over.

 

[Tommy]

Wow that truly is horrible!

 

[jamesremuscat]

How can it be when loads of 3.5T panel vans have them?

The exact wording, from the Road Vehicles (Construction and Use) Regulations 1986, is:

No person shall sound, or cause or permit to be sounded, on a road any reversing alarm fitted to a vehicle—

(a)unless the vehicle is a goods vehicle which has a maximum gross weight not less than 2000 kg, a bus, engineering plant, or a works truck

The same regulations mandate that no vehicle make such a noise at all between 23:30 and 07:00 - hence the need for a switch to turn the pedestrian warning off altogether in the Zoe.

It's also worth noting that in the last couple of years Parliament passed a vacuous piece of legislation allowing the Secretary of State for Transport to make up whatever rules he or she likes when it comes to electric vehicles making artificial noises (clearly I'm paraphrasing); it's an example of the sort of useless legislation UK.gov makes these days and contains absolutely no instruction on what the restrictions might be. As far as I'm aware, the SST hasn't deigned to make any sort of secondary legislation - though that could easily have happened without me noticing.

EDIT: Worth noting that the OP - according to the flag under his profile pic - resides in Ireland and is thus not subject to these regulations!

 

[Kiltox]

Ah, fair enough. Not just HGVs but not cars.

Lots of vans don’t have a means of turning it off, which is interesting

 

[Andy-Zoé-User]

Instead of an annoying noise, I just look behind me or in the reversing camera to make sure I don't run anyone over.

so do i .. but its still a good addition seeing as the zoe is totally silent when reversing - my wifes petrol clio mk4 makes more noise out of the exhaust than this beeping light (well I exaggerate but you can still hear her engine when she is reversing) am sure thats within legal decibel limits night and day ... dont get me started on boy racers in my area with decat's and exhausts that do that crackle and bang thing .. if the law arent bothered about them I doubt if they will worry about my little blip blip buzzer.

Wow that truly is horrible!

It doesnt have to be beautiful ... its hidden inside the reverse lamp in the bumper

 

[dk6780]

Lots of vans don’t have a means of turning it off, which is interesting

Most vans have a MGW of > 2,000 kg.

 

[Kiltox]

Most vans have a MGW of > 2,000 kg.

Yes, I know that - so they can have a back up alarm but should have a means of disabling it!

 

[Tommy]

How fast are you all reversing without looking?! 😅

 

[Andy-Zoé-User]

How fast are you all reversing without looking?! 😅

i dunno about others but about 30mph - 50 if its a moany old person!

 

[555djx]

I saw a reversing 70 plate Kia e-Niro today which was making the warning noise.

 

[kenszoe]

How can it be when loads of 3.5T panel vans have them?

It's legal for 3.5t and above.