If you’ve ever spoken to an older car enthusiast, you’ve probably heard all the classic complaints about electric vehicles. They’re boring, soulless, and most of all, too quiet. Most car enthusiasts want to hear their sports car; they crave that visceral experience. But EVs, despite their superior performance and speed over internal combustion, just don’t provide it—so automakers turned to trickery.
In performance EVs, automakers are using synthetic, manufactured sounds piped in through the car’s speakers to emulate the excitement of an internal combustion engine. If car shows, internet forums, Reddit, and social media have taught me anything, a large percentage of car enthusiasts find such noises phony and cheap. However, if you keep an open mind, artificial engine noise in EVs can be good, but only if done correctly.
EVs have to make at least some noise
All EVs have to make some noise; it’s the law. According to the National Highway Traffic and Safety Administration (NHTSA), all electric and hybrid “quiet car” vehicles are legally required to produce an external noise that’s very different from the interior artificial engine noise manufactured by automakers. This mandatory external sound is designed for pedestrians to hear for safety purposes, and only at speeds under 30 km/h (19 mph). It’s typically a low, humming or buzzing sound, so pedestrians can hear what would otherwise be a virtually silent vehicle if they can’t see it.
In 2019, the NHTSA proposed that automakers could provide customers with choices of external safety sound, but scrapped the proposal in 2022. Many Tesla models had a “Boombox” feature that allowed owners to customize their exterior driving sounds to anything they wanted, from music to ice cream truck sounds, to even muscle car exhaust noises.
However, the mandatory noises that Johnny Law says EVs must have aren’t what we’re talking about. Instead, we’re talking about the noises automakers pipe into the car’s cabin to add excitement and drama to acceleration. For this, automakers have legal carte blanche, and there are a few different methods they’ve adapted to add theater to an otherwise silent electric performance. After experiencing just about every method of audible EV fakery, I can tell you that some automakers get it very wrong, and some get it very right. There seem to be three main methods: fake engine sounds, sci-fi sounds, and a hybrid method.
Some EVs pretend to have engines
Simulating an engine sound in an EV is the most controversial method of adding drama, because there’s nothing about it that feels authentic. Hyundai is the biggest offender here, even if it’s the most admirable with its new Ioniq 5 N. The car itself is brilliant and among the best-performing EVs on the planet. But it has a function that realistically simulates a high-revving engine, by piping in the sound of one and even simulating a rev-limiter and shift points.
From a technical standpoint, it’s remarkable, as it feels shockingly close to the real thing. However, there’s no getting away from the fact that it’s fake. It’d be like playing Madden with VR goggles; sure, it’s fun to feel like an NFL player, but you know you aren’t one.
Dodge did something similar with its “Fratzonic Chambered Exhaust” system, which plays a sort of alien V8 noise through external speakers to make it sound like a muscle car. Sure, it sounds like a revving engine, but one not from this world. It also doesn’t seem to change pitch as the “revs” climb higher. It only gets louder. And because of that, its artificiality is almost immediately noticeable, which ruins the mirage.
What about sci-fi noises?
If an EV is going to pipe fake acceleration noise through the speakers, why not get weird with it? Porsche was the first to get wacky with EV noises, using sci-fi-inspired sounds to go with the futuristic theme of its Taycan electric sedan. However, BMW is the brand that did it best. The Bavarians turned to one of the most adored musicians and composers of our time, Hans Zimmer, to create an “Electromobility Soundtrack.”
What BMW and Zimmer came up with was a comprehensive sci-fi sound package that actually feels in tune with the car’s behavior. Acceleration, deceleration, lift-off throttle—you name it. It feels and sounds like the car is powered by something from another planet. And since it matches what you’re doing so well, it feels more authentic than most EV fakery, even if it sounds as alien as something from Interstellar. It’s fun and silly, and kids in the backseat will love it. And if it gets old after a while, you can turn it off.
Even that whimsy gets old after a while, as it’s still very fake. I don’t criticize BMW’s decision, as I appreciate the deliberate fun the brand had making such silly noises. But it’s ultimately still pure fakery, and that does tend to put a damper on the experience.
Hyundai also adds a few interesting options. Not only can it replicate a gas engine, but it also has a sci-fi-like option, and even one that simulates a fighter jet. Why not, I guess.
The right way to do it is a combination of things
Unsurprisingly, the Italians seem to have found the emotion in electric cars. Maserati cracked the code first, with its new electric GranTurismo Folgore. The two-door, all-wheel-drive stunner makes a whopping 818 horsepower from its trio of electric motors (two at the rear axle, one at the front), and Maserati wants you to feel it.
Instead of just piping in fake engine noise through the speakers, Maserati actually crafted a unique noise. It’s a combination of an old-school Maserati V8 (ironic, since Maser doesn’t offer a V8 anymore) and the actual whir of the electric motors themselves. And since the sound was painstakingly recorded and synthesized, it matches the revs of the motors themselves and gives you real feedback as to what they’re doing.
I’ve driven the Folgore on track and also rode shotgun with a Ferrari GT3 driver behind the wheel, and I promise you the soundtrack is killer. It really does sound and feel like you’re hearing electric motors at work. And even if the sound itself isn’t exactly familiar, it sounds cool. And when the aforementioned, impeccably dressed driver was doing smokey drifts at nearly triple-digit speeds, the unique noise felt perfectly at home.
I’ve driven many EVs, from almost every brand, and the GranTurismo Folgore is the best-sounding one, without a close second. I’m confident that if the EV-doubting old-school car enthusiasts spent seat time in the Maserati, they’d sing a different tune.
Maserati isn’t alone
It isn’t just Maserati, though. Ferrari seems to be taking the same idea to another level. In the upcoming Ferrari Elettrica—a 1,000-horsepower, quad-motor, four-door monster—won’t be simulating anything. Instead, sensors mounted near the motors will pick up their vibrations and amplify them through the speakers. So what you’ll hear inside the car isn’t an illusion. Instead, Ferrari is just connecting the speakers to the sounds of the motors.
According to Ferrari, the system is more like an electric guitar than anything else, since it doesn’t use a microphone to pick up the sound. Instead, it uses an accelerometer mounted inside the inverter casing to pick up the motors’ vibrations. If you’re wondering what highway sound will be like, since electric motors maintain high revs at highway speeds due to their lack of higher gears, worry not.
Ferrari is only going to pipe the sound into the cabin when your right foot asks for a big gob of power. So, much like an internal combustion engine, you’ll hear it when you put your foot down, but it’ll go quiet when cruising.
What’s wrong with EVs just being silent?
There’s nothing wrong with EVs being silent. A silent but deadly performance certainly has its allure. It does get old, though. The Tesla Model 3 Performance, for example, is incredibly fast in a straight line. But there are diminishing emotional returns to repeatedly stomping its go-pedal because of its silence. The same can’t be said for a Corvette.
Silence in EVs has its place, especially in luxury cars, where it’s most welcome. However, in performance cars, there’s certainly a way to make them sound more exciting and, perhaps to the surprise of old-school car enthusiasts, it lies in authenticity. Give us the sound of the electric motors themselves, even if it’s slightly enhanced. And if anyone with a loud sports car argues that such enhancement ruins the experience, just ask them which exhaust system their car is running.