Understanding how EV car sound design works.

There are rapid advancements happening in the field of car sound, leaving back old days where the car’s voice was only produced due to the mechanical growl of the engine. Mercedes Benz has effectively utilised this opportunity to deliver an impressive sound experience specifically in its EV cars. 

How Mercedes Develops the Soundscape?

EVs do not have pistons and exhaust pipes, so the Mercedes engineers have developed an exclusive “Sound Worlds” in order to replace the conventional sound generated from ICE engines. This is not totally about developing an artificial sound, but this sound is achieved by vibration and texture. 

Whether a user prefers the roaring sound, or a background sound ambience of “Silver Waves”, Mercedes provides specific sonic modes to match your needs. What it does is it transforms the cabin into various dynamic sounds where sound engineers customise various effects with nature sounds such as rustling trees, crickets or even a unique “Granular Fizz”.

Mastering Modulation: The Perfect Symphony of Pedals!

The sound engineers follow the approach of interactivity, as it produces sound on the dynamic shifting of sound vibration called as modulation. Unlike a conventional volume knob where we simply turn up the music and down, instead, here the driver generates the sound by using the accelerator and brake pedals.

The pedals here act as a music instrument giving background to the original sound. When you press the accelerator, the sound is generated and intensified further with the acceleration. In this process, the brake is not stopping the car but changing the soundscape of the EV. 

For example, selecting the “Serene Breeze" mode, slowing down the car can turn on nature sounds like birds flying, thus making the deceleration sound as pure as the wind coming down. These effects will not only make you feel like driving a car but feel like producing the sound with your feet, just as you feel while driving a conventional ICE car.