Perception of noise in electric cars and influence on driver behaviour

Postdoc: Maria Ekman Rådsten
Start: 2020

In electric vehicles noise levels from the drive train are lower than in vehicles with internal combustion engines, but they also have a different characteristic. This raises several issues as well as new possibilities. It has been shown that the sound inside the driver’s compartment affects the way the driver acts, opening the possibility to influence their driving behaviour by designing the noise inside the driver’s compartment, i.e. make the driver more inclined to have an environmentally friendly driving behaviour by making the sound environment more comfortable at certain driving conditions. The objective is to study in detail the perception of the sound quality in electric cars, in order to guide the design and remedies of both sound sources and attenuation measures. The same applies regarding exterior noise. The project relates to sustainable driving patterns trough sound design, as well as sound quality for electric drive.