Nissan Wants to Fill Streets With the Sweet Sound of EVs

By their nature, electric vehicles are quiet—and that’s a problem. If pedestrians, especially the visually impaired, can’t hear a car approaching, they don’t know to step out of its way. New federal safety regulations requiring all 2020 EV and hybrid models to make noise while driving at slow speeds should address the issue. But what should they sound like?

Nissan Motor Co., maker of the world’s best-selling EV, the Leaf, has been working on an answer. Its artificial-engine vroom, designed with New York studio Man Made Music, not only meets the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration’s stringent requirements for volume and frequency but also doesn’t create more noxious noise. “We wanted to make sure that we weren’t adding to what I call sonic trash—unnecessary, unwarranted sound,” says Man Made founder Joel Beckerman, whose compositions include the themes for the CBS Evening News and Imax’s countdown video.