Not long ago Rolls-Royce officially confirmed that it’s working on a fully electric car that should arrive in a few years. That wasn’t necessarily news, as the British luxury company hinted at such a possibility a long time ago. It’s a natural move for a brand that’s known for its quiet, effortless cars. Those are attributes shared with most electric powertrains. However, according to the CEO of the company, the switch to electric powertrains might make some cars too noisy.
Speaking to Autocar, Torsten Müller-Ötvös said that an electric Rolls-Royce might be letting in a bit more noise than usual, because there will be no V12 engine under the hood to drown out some road and wind roar. It may sound counter-intuitive but it does make sense and you’d understand what he’s talking about if you’ve ever driven an electric car. Unlike on regular models, especially at higher speeds, the wind noise becomes a problem not because there’s more of it, but because you can hear it better.
Nevertheless, if there’s a company that can fix that, it’s Rolls-Royce. They have said, during the development stage of the Ghost, that they actually had to make the cabin a bit louder. That’s because the initial version was so quiet, it make the passengers feel queasy. It’s hard to understand but we’re gonna take their word for granted. Too much of anything can become a nuisance, including too much silence.
Therefore, for the new electric model, Rolls-Royce will probably find a solution to muffle things out better. But, mind you, a balance must be kept. To this end, we could see a digital solution deployed, like the noise cancelling tech used by various car makers which uses certain frequencies to cancel out road noise. Either way, Müller-Ötvös said it’s worth trying to fix this issue, to move into the new, electric, era.
[Source: Autocar]
