How should quiet electric vehicles alert pedestrians?
U.S. regulators recently adopted a new rule that will force electric vehicle (EV) manufacturers to include a device in their EVs to emit a sound at up to 19 mph to protect pedestrians starting in 2019.
The new rule is controversial in the EV community. While most admit that quiet cars can be a problem at low-speed, especially for the visually impaired, people also fear that adding a sound will remove an important benefit of electric vehicles.