Did that car just bleat again?: EVs are trying some wild experiments with sound

BMW is working with the Oscar-winning composer Hans Zimmer; Mercedes-Benz with rapper Will.i.am. Lamborghini may even draw inspiration from spaceships.

They’re quiet; perhaps too quiet. An electric or plug-in hybrid car has no welcoming vroom, no warning growl.

There’s more than that missing too. A typical internal combustion engine (ICE) offers a range of audible cues that most drivers don’t notice, until they sputter or go silent. The healthy hum and clicks are crucial cues to performance and driveability. And they’re absent in more or less all EVs.

For all these reasons, makers of electric cars are aiming to step