When I recently drove an EV, one of the things that I noticed and missed was the vibrational feedback of the ICE.
Since this is an audio forum, it reminded me of my experience with Class D versus Class A.
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Interesting sales pitch.
Several years ago we were working on an engine isolator project for the Cadillac CTS-V.
The engine became so quiet in the cabin that we also then became part of a project to add a āhisā and āhersā switch which opened up a door over a passive radiator in the firewall to get some of the visceral vroom-vroom noise back into the cabin.
Both projects were fun and show how far vibration and noise isolation have come.
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Yes. Driving will never be the same with EVās. The sound the vibration the use of a manual transmission can never be replicated by an electric car. I watched the YouTube video of Car and Drivers Lightning Lap and the watching and listening to the sound of the GT3rs, the Z06, the Camaro NASCAR is awesome! Then the Lucid absolutely nothing visceral about that. Silence. Extreme power and fast but Iām sure it would be more exciting by letting it drive itself at those speeds.
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Reminds me of the good neighbor mode on my friends Bullitt Mustang that ātamesā the exhaust note when starting the car and rolling out of the neighborhood with the touch of a button.
I guess your project was more for vibration reduction.
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Itāll be interesting to see how the ācourt of public opinionā judges this.
I wonder how much of this has to do with expectations for legacy models? Ford chose, maybe for other reasons, to develop the Mach-E as opposed to dropping an electric power train in the Mustang. I doubt Tesla will scramble to develop something to compete.
That said, riding atop something showing signs of life, is one reason I prefer my FJR-1300 over the sewing machine smooth ST1300.
At least your projects were communicating something that was there but overly attenuated. Artificial NV (of NVH) reminds me of sound modules and exhaust nozzle lighting for RC airplanes. It just comes across as being fake.
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It is fake. Just a marketing ploy as the EV market is sinking like a rock.
Many of the manufacturers are quietly abandoning projects and new cars are sitting on lots unsold.
Even the EV Mustang is being advertised at $10k off sticker price here. But still not selling.
Elonās focus is completely different (and evidently sucessful). Make a car from scratch as an EV but dont try to make a current model into an EV.
That just alienates both existing and new customers.
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Part of that project also turned into suppressing a driveline drone noise in the cabin, which at the resonant frequency caused a vibration that if sustained caused the self destruction of the body mounted driveshaft.
Turns out that the same time they fit the Z06 Corvette engine to the engine bay someone in the cost department tried to save a few cents by reducing the wall thickness of the driveshaft tube spec and going to China looking for a cheaper supplier.
The cars shook so bad that for many months every car off the line sat in a holding lot waiting for a solution. The solution ended up fitting the shaft with a pair of ITDās (Internal Tube Dampers) that eneded up costing more money and weighing more than if they would have stuck with the original driveshaft design and supplier.
Lesson learned. Or not.
Iām sure this surprised no one. The new CT5 V Blackwing with the manual transmission looks like a dream sedan to me but you know there must be similar cost cutting that could ruin someoneās day.
Yes itās really pathetic when you get to hold in your hand and look at the flimsy quality of basic commuter vehicle components. Unfortunately all publicly traded companies are the same in that respect. Profit over performance ant any level.
Yes they are cheaply made so affordable to the masses and once you cover them up with coach work and vinyl no one will know. Or care. Ignorance or lack of caring is bliss.
Most people are simply blind to the differences that higher Q parts bring to the look, feel, and life of the product.
Same goes with the stuff we discuss here.
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I was a much bigger car guy at one time than I am now. Z06ās, CTS Vās, etc were always on my lists of must haves now Iād rather spend my money on audio. Between inflated high prices, quality control, distracted drivers, and EV itās a bummer.
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Likely not. In the product support career I just retired from a common problem resolution team complaint was, and will likely always be, thereās never time and money to prevent the problem but always constrained time and money to fix it.
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Or stated another way you never have enough time to do it right the first time but always have enough time to do it over.
We also do post failure recall / warranty work. (disassembling failed components) and it then easy to see the failure mode.
Cost is #1.
And if it is a multiple supplier assembly they all want to play the blame game and none want to fess up or pay up. We offer info regarding what we see but not binding judgements.
We have had reps from 3 different manufacturers all watch us disassemble failed assemblies and usually none of them have a clue to what they are looking at.
Once you get above the daily driver commuter junk it gets a lot better. When you get to the special vehicles (i.e. Corvette Z06, Cadillac Blackwing) there is more money to spend so the part quality, look and feel, performance, and life usually go up dramatically.
Also there are very few post production failures due to low cost component failures. Some but not many.
The high volume stuff is simply able to cover up production failures with gross sales numbers and per vehicle post sales allowance for returns and defects.
I think Ford is up to $1k allowance per vehicle for recall / TSB / customer complaint fixes.
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Surely not with me in it.
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Or me. I know how that stuff is built.
Same with rides at the fair.
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Electric or gas, the ultimate goal still hasnāt been attained. The industry still hasnāt installed a switch to pick up babes. I suggest an automatic mode and an āOFFā switch for when your significant other is around. 
Of course at my age, I would be interested in picking up a shapely DAC. 
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Iām looking forward to Elonās A.I. version of this concept design to take over the streets of NYCā¦:Johnny Cab, anyone? (do you have to include tip with payment?) 
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One of the best movies ever made!
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Otto!