New opportunities of the automotive market: AVAS/VESS engine noise generators

The automotive market is experiencing a long-established rise in electric vehicles (EV). Only this May 2019, EV made up around 6,6% of Britain’s vehicle fleet and the number is continually growing. Moreover, the British government is aiming to ban the production and sales of cars with engines running on gasoline or diesel by 2040. 

Besides having great prospects for growth, electronic vehicles have several issues. Actually, the latest under consideration is connected with silent driving. On the one hand, there are many benefits of driving making no noise, but recently it caused lots of complaints. As a result, pedestrians do not hear the approach of the vehicle, which results in an increase in traffic accidents.

In this connection, from now on, all new electric cars in the EU should be equipped with AVAS (Acoustic Vehicle Alerting System) engine noise generators also called VESS (Virtual Engine Sound System), which will automatically turn on when the car is going astern or moving at a speed of fewer than 19 kilometers per hour. The authorities of the European Union came to the conclusion that in both cases, passersby may be close to the car. So, this a great example of how electronic devices may save people’s life. Although, drivers will have the right to turn off the engine noise generator if they suppose it’s necessary, in cases of driving on the roads equipped with appropriate pedestrian crossings and traffic lights.

Today there are several examples of AVAS from different highly specialized developers in automotive. Giant chip vendors like Texas Instruments provide them with VESS integrated circuits and reference design. In case you want to occupy a niche in this field, don’t hesitate to contact us. Our engineers have deep expertise in developing automotive electronics of that kind. Let’s make the future of transportation not only eco-friendly but also safe and reliable together.