AVAS: Electric vehicles must now make artificial sounds

peugeot-avas-symbolbild

From July 1, 2019, all new types of electric and hybrid vehicles in the European Union (EU) must be equipped with an Acoustic Vehicle Alerting System (AVAS).

The new regulation makes it compulsory to have acoustic systems within electric road vehicles for pedestrians, and especially visually impaired persons to more easily hear electric cars approach.

AVAS systems generate a sound when electric road vehicles are reversing or running below 20 km/h (about 12mph). The reason for limiting the speed is that at higher speeds the tyre noise usually drowns out the engine. If the combustion engine of a hybrid vehicle is running, the AVAS should not make any noise and vehicles that already emit a warning sound anyway when reversing do not have to produce any additional noise. According to the EU regulation, the AVAS must be equipped with an easily accessible switch for switching on and off and must be switched on automatically at the start.

In Germany, the federal government has already enabled subsidies of 100 euros for the instalment of the AVAS systems. This became valid with the extension of the German Umweltbonus (environmental grant) – which also comes into effect from 1 July.

When announcing the new regulations in the United Kingdom, Roads Minister Michael Ellis said that “This new requirement will give pedestrians added confidence when crossing the road.”

Not everybody agrees that the AVAS signalling is entirely practical. After studying noise levels of both electric and conventional engines, the Center Automotive Research (CAR) of the University of Duisburg-Essen found that new cars are in fact just as quiet as electric cars when in push-mode at low speeds since they only depend on the engine when accelerating again. In a special report for electrive.com, Christoph M. Schwarzer discovered that a sensible alternative to AVAS would be automatic emergency braking systems. In the case of hearing-impaired pedestrians, or those wearing headphones, emergency braking systems – much like the technology used in autonomous vehicles – may provide additional safety for all road vehicles, not just electric ones.

gov.uk

4 Comments

about „AVAS: Electric vehicles must now make artificial sounds“
Paul GOVAN
01.07.2019 um 22:37
What we have long urgently needed is a law forcing all carmalers to devise and deploy quiet *un-slammable* doors ! Why is it that so many cardrivers seem to love slamming their doors - usually 2-3 slams for every occupant getting out of the car. It's especially noisy and overdone after the occupants have returned after a good and probably boozey night out - almost as if they are using the chorus of door-slamming to let everyone in the neighbourhood know what a great time they've had. Bang, slam, wham, wham, kadang, bang-slam-wham thankyou man/mam... Bizarre that we have such advanced self-drive tech yet we can't get those damn doors silenced. Paul G
Kevin Moore
27.06.2021 um 09:56
This is big problem where I am, people going to work early in the morning too, slamming doors like it’s mid afternoon when it’s 05:30
Edward Milnes
27.11.2019 um 17:43
I have an MG EV on order. Will have AVAS? I have contacted MG but have not yet had a reply. Thanks
Enmanuel Hernández
01.08.2022 um 17:33
This is an stupid regulation, My 2010 Mazda 3 with a 2.0 engine emit no sound while driving bellow 20 MPH, nor on reverse. So why this regulation only apply for EV or Hybrid?

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