Bmw admits fast electric vehicles have one major problem - they can be hard to judge speed around a track without acoustic feedback drivers are used to. To solve this, Bmw is developing a unique sound for its upcoming electric M3.
In a video, Bmw engineers recorded three of its most iconic M cars, but instead of using the actual sounds in the production car, they studied the sounds to find out why many people find them appealing and used those learnings to create a more compelling, artificial note for its EV performance cars.
The resulting sound is very exciting and aggressive, with hints of a combustion engine, but its own unique high-pitched sound. Bmw's goal is not to trick you into believing you're in an actual combustion car, but create something unique.
View Price on AmazonWhen analyzing the V-10 engine note, one of the engineers remarks that it sounds very flat and boring at a constant 6,000 rpm. So even the mighty S85 engine has less-than-ideal notes, and Bmw M wanted the sound it created for the M3 EV to be free of such dead spots and just sound exciting throughout the simulated rev range.
Bmw also wants to create a sense of progression as the car accelerates and speed builds. This means the sound will change as you go through the simulated gears, becoming more intense the faster you go. One of the things the engineers wanted to avoid was a drone, as some high-performance combustion engines exhibit at certain constant rpms.
The main idea behind all of this is that the sound has to serve the driver and give reference points and feedback. Bmw is testing the M3 EV around the Nurburgring, where having audible reference points, like going up or down through the gears in a combustion car, is key to having an intuitive understanding of how fast you're going without constantly looking at the speedometer.
And these audible reference points will be needed even more in the electric M3 than in the combustion model, because the EV will be much quicker and more brutal in its power delivery. Regardless of whether you will have control over the fake gears or not, Bmw is really trying to make the M3 EV as exciting as it can, and it’s not following the common recipe for it.
Source: insideevs.com
