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Journal Article

Development of Approaching Vehicle Sound for Pedestrians (VSP) for Quiet Electric Vehicles

2011-04-12
2011-01-0928
Vehicles with electric powertrains emit less noise than internal combustion engine vehicles. These quiet cars have raised concerns about pedestrian safety, especially among the visually impaired community. The primary concern is related to when electric vehicles are travelling at low speeds where tire noise and aerodynamic noise is minimal. In these situations, the EV might not provide an adequate auditory cue for visually impaired pedestrians who need auditory information for navigation and decision making. A system called Approaching Vehicle Sound for Pedestrians (VSP) has been developed for the 2011 Nissan Leaf EV to help address the potential quiet car concern. This system emits a digitally generated signal from an onboard speaker to provide auditory cues to pedestrians during low speed forward movement and reverse. The auditory cues are designed to help achieve the same detectablity performance as internal combustion engine sound.
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