How should an electric car sound for you to like it?

One of the criticisms often levelled against electric cars is that they lack the emotional depth of the soundtrack of an internal combustion engine. Electric motors are almost silent compared with combustion engines, but what some see as a flaw can also be seen as an opportunity.

The field of sound design for cars is an exciting new addition to the automotive sector, and it sees sound engineers trying to decide how an electric car should sound. Lacking natural acoustic cues, yet endowed with many ways of producing sound, an electric vehicle can sound like practically anything. So how do you think an electric car should sound for drivers to like it?

Car manufacturers are already working on creating abstract yet evocative sounds that convey a sense of speed in a way that replicates the rising revs of an internal combustion engine’s power band. Mercedes-Benz, for example, has created several soundscapes, and in Vivid Flux and Sport Mode the EQS sounds a bit like a pod racer from the Star Wars universe.

How should electric cars sound?

But beauty is in the ear of the beholder, and abstract sounds won’t appeal to every user. Some traditionalist drivers may instead wonder why fix what isn’t broken. The fact that there are no thunderous engine explosions under the bonnet does not mean the sound the engine makes cannot remain useful in the electric era.

Some companies, such as Everrati, have chosen to adopt engine sound even though there is no engine. For its electric GT40 project, the brand added speakers capable of emitting 110 decibels (almost the same volume as a rock concert) of synthetic V8 noise so that everyone can hear it, not just the driver.

However, every coin has two sides, and what some see as a strength of engines, others may see as a weakness. Rolls-Royce, for example, believes electric motors will be the perfect propulsion method for its vehicles precisely because they emit little or no sound.

“Henry Royce began his working life as an electrical engineer and devoted much of his career to building internal combustion engines that mimicked the characteristics of an electric car: silent operation, instant torque and the feeling of an endless gearbox,” the company recently stated in a press release.

But what do you think? How should an electric car sound? Is there any example of a propulsion sound that you find particularly appealing? Should we bother with all that, or focus on silent luxury?