What if electric cars had exhaust pipes? Porsche is considering it

Some electric cars have performances that would make even the biggest big car enthusiasts green with envy. The 3 fastest production cars to date from 0 to 100 km/h are 100% electric, ahead of the Ferrari, Porsche et Lamborghini les plus radicales.

But in the eyes of some enthusiasts of fine mechanics, or rather in their ears, electric cars are missing an essential element: sound.

There's something undeniably brilliant and futuristic about being catapulted almost silently by a Tesla Model S Plaid, almost like science fiction. In reality, an electric car's engine and transmission are not completely silent, but only produce a slight whine, easily drowned out by air and road noise. And we must recognize that the roar of an accelerating combustion engine increases the sensations, the “emotions” felt while driving. In the same way that music on a good sound system can make a music lover shiver.

False engine noise comes from the cabin

Some electric car manufacturers have understood this well, by emitting the sound of a futuristic engine into the cabin. For the Taycan, Porsche offers the Electric Sport Sound option, which imitates the sound of a spaceship shifting through the gears of a gearbox. For a similar function in the “M” version of the i4, BMW even hired the services of Hans Zimmer, the famous composer to whom we owe the music for the film Interstellar.

But it doesn't turn the heads of onlookers when you parade your car. Also Porsche is considering adding a real-fake “exhaust” to its next electric cars. Remember that the next 718 and the next Macan will only be offered in 100% electric form.

Our American colleague Carbuzz actually says it has spotted patent applications, filed in Germany, in which Porsche imagines simulating the sound of an exhaust pipe. To do this, it would integrate one or more speakers into a resonance chamber similar to the “silencer” of a real exhaust pipe. The sound, which we imagine to be futuristic, would come out at the rear of the car through exhaust pipes. The objective would be to cover the “emotionless” sound of an electric car, today “dominated by the rolling noise of the tires”, in order to approach the “emotional character” of a thermal car.

© Porsche via CarBuzz

Porsche would be the first to offer such a system on electric cars. But accessory manufacturers offer similar systems, intended for diesel or small-displacement thermal cars, to give them, for example, the sound of a V8. They take the form of an accessory, integrating a speaker, to be inserted on the exhaust line. Audi even offered an “original” accessory.

Note that some electric cars already emit sound outside. But the AVAS system (acoustic vehicle alert system), which emits a sound below 20 km/h, is only used to alert other road users at low speed.

Silence is seen by most owners, and especially by most local residents, as an advantage of electric cars. But if it is necessary to add sound to certain models to convince a few recalcitrant people to adopt less polluting cars, isn't that a lesser evil? Especially since there is every chance that these systems can be activated or deactivated on demand, in order to be discreet or to let the horses go depending on the situation.

Audi offered an accessory adding a speaker to the exhaust line. © Audi