Top 10 Noisemakers for Electric Vehicles

The Top Gear Hammerhead i-Thrust GM Volt-like Mod

by Aaron Turpen

There's a lot of talk about whether electric cars are "too silent" and the idea of adding noise to them is gaining ground. The Nissan Leaf and the Chevrolet Volt both have exterior noise options and a version of the 2010 Motor Vehicle Safety Act in Congress included mandating noise makers for electric vehicles.

Since many EV manufacturers are either providing for or including noise makers on their electric cars, it seems appropriate to come up with our list of favored ideas for our own EV noises. After all, if an electric vehicle has a standard "factory" noise, it follows that many consumers will opt to "hack" theirs and add their own modifications.

Here are our Top 10 Mods we'd like to see as EV noise makers:

1 - The Jalopy With Backfire

What could be more fun than an electric car that sounds like your grandad's barely-running rust bucket that backfires every half a block? Exactly, not much.

2 - Darth Vader Breathing

If all this noise is supposed to be for letting blind people know you're there, why not creep them out while you're at it?

3 - Nitro-Burning Funny Car / Monster Truck Engine

On the other hand, rather than going for freaky, you could instead go whole hog the other direction and aim for the loudest engine sounds available on four wheels..

4 - The A-Team Theme Song

Of course, no list would be complete without including a classic like the A-Team. How can you go wrong piping the show's theme song (complete with machine gun fire) out of your EV? Nothing says "hero" like this one.

5 - Explosions

If that theme song is too long for you, though, you could always just go with a straight explosion. Or series of them.

6 - WWII Aircraft

Back to the engine sounds, why not throw in a vintage World War II aircraft complete with dive bomb sounds?

7 - Bill & Ted on Guitar

Then there's the classic "Bill and Ted" air guitar sound. Short, sweet, and instantly bodacious!

8 - Star Trek Warp Sound

Preferably including one of the captains saying "Engage!" A true nerd's delight, sure to make all four-eyed geeks envious of your future wheels.

9 - Tie-Fighter / R2D2

So long as we're talking about sci-fi movie sounds, why not a Tie-Fighter? Much cooler than the X-Wing, the Tie-Fighter has mean looks and a compact design. Throw in an R2D2 beep sequence on your auto alarm system and you've got the whole set!

10 - Jetsons Car

Of course, no list of potential EV sounds would be complete without including the Jetson's family vehicle. This should be mandatory on any EV's potential sound list.