Electric vehicles are being touted as the future of transportation because they are cleaner and more energy efficient, but people still miss the mid-to-bass exhaust note and vibration of internal combustion engines. Even in auto racing, internal combustion engine racing is still popular because the high-pitched, quiet sound and energy transfer of electric cars is limited.
The car glides out of the house. It races off into the sunset. It’s a scene from a car commercial. There’s no sound of a car. The car in this seemingly silent commercial is an electric car.
Electric cars, thought to be the transportation of the future, are starting to be commercialized. The era of electric cars is coming, and they are attracting a lot of attention from companies and investors because of their eco-friendly image. Not only are they eco-friendly and energy-efficient, but they are also a conglomeration of IT combined with artificial intelligence, and they are slowly becoming a part of our lives. The advantages of electric cars are endless. In the near future, electric cars will replace internal combustion engines with more advantages. Thanks to advances in battery and motor technology, some electric cars are already capable of competing with their internal combustion engine counterparts.
Electric vehicles can make a significant contribution to protecting the environment because, unlike traditional internal combustion engines, they emit very little carbon dioxide while driving. Electric vehicles are also extremely energy efficient, which means they can travel longer and longer distances on a single charge. This is an important factor that makes electric vehicles more practical for long-distance travel. Electric vehicles are also cheaper to maintain than their internal combustion engine counterparts. They don’t need oil changes, exhaust system checks, etc.
However, you won’t hear the sound of a car running in electric car commercials. This is partly to emphasize their silence, but at city speeds, electric cars are silent. This seems to be both an advantage and a disadvantage of electric cars. Those who have seen an electric car in action know this. It’s easy to notice a gasoline or diesel car approaching from behind, but it’s very hard to notice an electric car approaching in a place where there is a certain amount of ambient noise. You can’t honk your horn in an alley or on the street, and it creates a frustrating or even dangerous situation. For this reason, some countries have mandated that electric cars have speakers on the front of the car to play a warning voice for safety.
Due to the nature of electric car motors, they make very little sound. While engines make low to medium pitched explosions as the pistons burn, electric cars make a small high-pitched friction sound. There is also no vibration of the body. In terms of quietness, internal combustion engines can’t compete with electric cars. However, many people think that this quietness takes away from the fun of driving. Let’s think about the human romance with the idea of a “car”. There are many aspects to it, but one of them is the cool exhaust note and vibration. The exhaust note of a car costing 30 million won’t be the same as the exhaust note of a car costing 100 million won. Most of us have probably fantasized about having a “super car” that accelerates smoothly with a low to mid-range exhaust note. When an electric car accelerates to high speeds, it produces a high-pitched sound reminiscent of an airplane or a vacuum cleaner. Some electric cars don’t even come close to matching the performance of supercars. Nevertheless, I wonder if the lack of a low to mid-range exhaust note is one of the reasons why electric cars have not become the “driver’s dream”. People with electric cars often set their beepers to sound like a V8 engine exhaust, both inside and out through the speakers. This makes me think that people may have gotten used to the sound of an internal combustion engine exhaust while driving an electric car.
The performance of high-end electric vehicles is no match for internal combustion engines. With powerful motors and batteries, electric cars can even outperform their internal combustion counterparts when it comes to acceleration and curves. However, there’s one thing that comes to mind when we think of high-performance cars. It’s car racing. In racing, the driver is one thing, but a good car has a lot to do with the time. Therefore, a racing car is the sum total of a car’s driving skills, and if it’s a good car, it’s going to be in a race. Strangely enough, have you ever seen an electric car in a race? The answer is yes, electric cars do race. In some competitions, drivers in electric cars have even beaten gasoline cars to win. But for some reason, races featuring electric cars aren’t very popular.
Compare Formula One, where cars with internal combustion engines compete, with Formula E, where electric cars compete. Unless you’re a huge car racing fanatic, you’ve probably never heard of Formula E. The rules are similar and the cars look the same. The sense of speed is almost identical. The races are similar in that they’re all about powering through straights and curves, and the crowds are similar. The only difference is the sound of the cars and the energy they exude. In Formula One, when cars enter a straightaway after going around a curve, they accelerate in unison and produce a powerful mid-to-low-pitched engine sound, whereas Formula E races are somewhat quieter. The high-pitched, motorized sound of the cars turning doesn’t have the same energy as Formula One. Fans of auto racing are passionate about the speed of the cars and their records, but they are also passionate about the “noise” of the cars up close and personal. It’s like going to a concert. The energy of the fans at a concert is different when they’re listening to soft, high-pitched ballads than when they’re listening to the drums and guitars at a rock festival. Perhaps the high-pitched sound of electric cars is one of the reasons why Formula E is less popular than Formula One.
Electric cars are coming of age. The performance and price of electric cars will start to become competitive, and many people will switch to electric cars. Even though electric cars are eco-friendly, perform well, and are silent, it seems that people who switch to electric cars will not be able to let go of the energy of the internal combustion engine. Even if electric vehicles are fully commercialized and overwhelmingly outperform their electric counterparts, racing with internal combustion engines is unlikely to lose its popularity. This is because humans are more effective at transmitting energy in the bass than in the treble. The future development of electric vehicles will also develop in a way that fulfills this aspect. The exhaust note or vibration of the car will correspond to the different needs of consumers who ride or will ride electric vehicles, which will act as a catalyst for automobile companies to develop and improve more to meet the needs of consumers.
In the end, the quietness and comfort of electric vehicles will be a key feature of the future. But even with these changes, human senses and instinctual needs will not be easily changed. Even in the future, when electric vehicles become more advanced and popular, we may still miss the unique experience of an internal combustion engine car. These dual feelings will be an important consideration in the development of the electric vehicle industry. Even as more people enjoy the benefits of electric vehicles, the diversity and depth of car culture will remain.
