This is how the acoustic warning system of the Volkswagen ID.3 'sounds'

Since the law requires that all new electric vehicles emit an artificial driving sound to alert pedestrians and cyclists, Volkswagen has worked with the composer Leslie Mandoki to give the Volkswagen ID.3 a distinctive sound.

In the future, all models in the ID family from Volkswagen will come with a Vehicle Acoustic Alert System (AVAS), which makes noise when the car accelerates at speeds of up to 30 km/h and when reversing.

The Vehicle Acoustic Alert System, AVAS, of the Volkswagen ID.3 can be heard both outside and inside the vehicle, and occupants hear different stages of the driving sound depending on speed and accelerator pedal position. Above 30 km/h, the car’s own rolling resistance and road noise take over.

“The sound of an electric vehicle defines its identity. The sound must be safe and pleasant. It can sound futuristic and must also impress with its unique character,” said Dr. Frank Welsch, the German brand’s head of development. Click here to listen to the warning sound of the Volkswagen ID.3.

The Volkswagen ID.3 already has a ‘soundtrack’ thanks to Leslie Mandoki

Meanwhile, design chief Klaus Bischoff has said that “thanks to its sound, electric vehicles have their own voice, which we can design ourselves, independently of mechanical sounds. The Volkswagen ID.3 radiates safety and the promise of effortless mobility: it will take us everywhere.”

After listening to the audio file several times, we are left with the impression that the acoustic warning system, AVAS, in the Volkswagen ID.3 sounds much better than, for example, the pedestrian noise generator of the Karma Revero GT from 2020. What do you think?

Last July 1 was the date marked on the calendar for a new European Union regulation to come into force. From now on, all electric vehicles approved in Europe are required to emit a warning sound when travelling at low speed.

This new regulation aims to prevent pedestrians being run over when they cross the road distractedly, relying more on their hearing than on sight, and also responds to the request made by some associations of visually impaired people.

This new regulation affects not only new electric vehicles approved in Europe but also those already on the road, although the latter will have a couple of extra years to install the AVAS system.

The entry into force of this new regulation has not caught electric vehicle manufacturers off guard; many of them have long been working on the development of the AVAS system for their vehicles. This is the case, for example, of Jaguar, which last year presented this system for the I-Pace.

The Volkswagen ID.3 and the Jaguar I-Pace are not the only ones, since the Mercedes-Benz EQC also already has a ‘melody’. The new Mercedes-Benz EQC is subject to these and many other regulations, which sound experts at the acoustic test facilities of the Mercedes-Benz Technology Centre in Sindelfingen are developing to give the model a special voice.

Special microphones are being used at the outdoor sound test facilities to achieve an electronic sound individually configured for each electric model. Detailed simulations, measurements, evaluations and improvements continue until the result is perfect.