An unintended consequence of driving EVs is that road noise we’d typically consider to be in the background has become the dominant sound while driving. For a brand like BMW, this is the opposite of luxury. Active noise cancelation systems were developed to disguise road and tire noise and increase the occupants’ isolation from the world outside. But BMW has realized such isolation robs drivers of the sensation of speed, and has patented a variable active noise canceling system that can reduce its efficacy to enhance a sense of connection between driver and car.
EVs Are Getting Faster But Feeling Slower
Performance EVs are quicker now than ever before, regularly recording sub-2-second sprints to 60 mph and achieving remarkable speeds. But due to the silence of their powertrains compared to combustion cars, the occupants’ perception of that speed is diminished.
Active noise canceling, together with BMW’s Active Sound Design (ASD), will be able to tailor the acoustics within the car to enhance the sense of speed rather than subdue it. Effectively, the level of efficacy of these sound control systems will be modulated by the car’s drive modes. In Comfort mode, for example, full noise cancelation would make the drive serene and peaceful, but in Sport or Sport+ mode, the level of noise cancelation would be pared back – possibly even turned off completely – to provide the driver with an unfiltered and thus more engaging, driving experience.
BMW also proposes a system where the car would detect ‘dynamic driving’ and automatically reduce the level of noise cancelation. Conversely, when driving at a steady speed on a highway, it would engage the full noise cancelation suite for utmost comfort.
Selective Cancelation + Simulated Wind = Driving Pleasure?
BMW identifies a plurality of sounds that can be disguised using noise cancelation, including tire noise wind noise, drivetrain noise, chassis sounds (like stones hitting the body), and auxiliary units like air conditioning, and would be able to tailor which of these noises is filtered out and which is considered integral to driving pleasure.
Furthermore, BMW believes that simulating some of these so-called “poorer acoustics” by adding additional wind noise “can be used to influence the subjective feeling of speed.”
With BMW already working on its first electric M car – an electric successor to the M3 – this technology is more than just a work of fiction; it’s likely to become a reality before the decade is out.
