[gofer]

Took delivery of our 20 plate i3 in July, stickers inside the car would suggest it was built in March 2020. The car is almost silent when pulling away but I thought all new EVs had to have an artificial noise generator to protect pedestrians since July 2019. Also when I look at the i3 uk price list it still has the 'edrive exterior sound' listed as an £80 option.

Have I missed something?

 

[GTEve]

My I3s is a 2020 model and as you say the sound option was an £80 extra which I wasn't willing to pay for. The silence is occasionally broken when setting off from the lights with my laughter as I leave most would be challengers behind!

Not sure why the sound generator isn't fitted as standard though.

 

[mrdr_ev]

It's not fitted as standard because most people don't want one! I didn't and certainly wasn't going to pay for it. The car isn't completely silent anyway, as you no doubt agree, but it's pretty close at less than 5 mph.

 

[2020i3]

Not fitted as standard because the i3 was ‘type approved’ before 2019.

 

[mrdr_ev]

Phew. Mind you I'm sure they will label the right fuse when it's enforced...

 

[MPx]

Well I paid the £80 to have the "sound" on our '18 94ah BEV and have yet to hear it. I'm assured it has it and all of the paperwork says it has - its just the sound of silence. So well done all of you people who saved your £80.

 

[M C Williams]

New rules coming into force today (1 July 2019) dictate that all new fully electric vehicles must be fitted with an audible warning device to aid safety. All electric cars to have pedestrian warning noise | Autocar

 

[80698]

Well I paid the £80 to have the "sound" on our '18 94ah BEV and have yet to hear it. I'm assured it has it and all of the paperwork says it has - its just the sound of silence. So well done all of you people who saved your £80.

I think it's more like the LEAF where its just a quiet noise that slightly exaggerates the noise of the motor, rather than the Zoe for example that makes a really obvious artifical engine noise.

I've driven an i3 which supposedly had it, and one that did not. And I didn't notice any difference. That or they've falsely claimed that at least two different cars had it but it wasn't actually equipped despite paying for that.

 

[gofer]

this guy has captured the sound really well...

 

[80698]

this guy has captured the sound really well...

Well in which case it definitely wasn't equipped on the car I tried that said it had. Even with the windows down I couldn't hear anything like that on the one I tried.

 

[Davidss]

The 'good' news is that, no matter how hard you try, you will never sneak up to a pedestrian without them hearing the car. The assumption here is that they aren't profoundly deaf. That has been my experience since March 2018.
I haven't tried approaching young children without a hearing adult being with them.

I live in North Derbyshire (UK) where a lot of roads are too narrow to have white lines down the centre, and some aren't even wide enough for two cars, even of i3 size. I've caught up with people walking along these roads, they always hear the car before I reach them.

To test the natural noise for yourself, wind the window down, then drive slowly forward.

 

[gofer]

It's possible that it's switchable on and off?

 

[gofer]

The 'good' news is that, no matter how hard you try, you will never sneak up to a pedestrian without them hearing the car. The assumption here is that they aren't profoundly deaf. That has been my experience since March 2018.
I haven't tried approaching young children without a hearing adult being with them.

I live in North Derbyshire (UK) where a lot of roads are too narrow to have white lines down the centre, and some aren't even wide enough for two cars, even of i3 size. I've caught up with people walking along these roads, they always hear the car before I reach them.

To test the natural noise for yourself, wind the window down, then drive slowly forward.

I've only had the car 2 months and at slow speed suprised a jay walker in the supermarket car park and also the next door neighbour who only heard the car once i pulled onto the gravel drive.

 

[Davidss]

You have to make allowances for people who aren't paying attention, but doesn't 'surprising a jay walker' imply that they heard the car anyway (otherwise how were they surprised)?
I don't think a neighbour, probably 'safe' in their own garden, also counts as a valid 'awareness' check.

 

[gofer]

I had to make allowances for both situations as I suspected they hadn't heard me coming.

 

[Uzi2]

It's possible that it's switchable on and off?

It is, but it defaults to on automatically at startup.

 

[ColA]

What a strange world we live in where it is deemed important that a vehicle makes a noise when it moves! Noise pollution, light pollution .... Anyway, do electric bikes (capable of 30 mph plus) have to sound their bells all the time? An acquaintance challenged me on this saying EVs were dangerous. I told her not to worry because an EU Directive was coming requiring that a pedestrian carrying a red flag must walk in front of the vehicle at all times.

 

[Bill N]

The 'good' news is that, no matter how hard you try, you will never sneak up to a pedestrian without them hearing the car.

I had to gently beep just the other day driving through a village with narrow streets with people walking on the road.

It sometimes happens in an ICE car if there are other sounds in the environment.

 

[Uzi2]

I had to gently beep just the other day driving through a village with narrow streets with people walking on the road.

It sometimes happens in an ICE car if there are other sounds in the environment.

How do you gently beep? Is that just your thought process?

 

[Bill N]

How do you gently beep? Is that just your thought process?

Yeah probably! I just tried to tap the centre of the wheel as gently as possible until it eventually triggered the most minimal possible beep!

I think it was the Vauxhall Ampera that has a secondary pedestrian horn - all EVs should have something like I think.