Lucid Motors Works on Luxury Noise Cancelling Electric Car

Lucid Motors has announced that it is working on a luxury electric car with noise cancelling technology to give motorists the quietest ride ever. Similar to noise-cancelling headphones, this technology can be used to minimize the sounds associated with driving. The proposed price tag is quite hefty at USD 100, 000 but the company is promising premium quality for that rate

Generally during driving, noise comes from three sources: the road, wind and the powertrain. Lucid’s technology will isolate the car from these noises and is slated to be launched in late 2018.

Lucid has used Noise and Vibration Harmony (NVH) engineering, which fully takes into account the differences between the sources of noises in electric cars and conventionally powered cars. In an electric car, below 60 mph, internal sounds are mainly due to the road and wind as the powertrain is  a lot quitter than an internal combustion engine.

Speaking about the technology Greg Goetchius, NVH Engineering manager  said that the Lucid was forging a new path with the use of this technology.

Through simulations, the company’s designers extensively studied the car’s materials to understand how road and wind create noise around the car. They found that how special glass could help minimize the  internal noise. They tested acoustic laminated glass in which special materials are sandwiched between panes of glass and found that it had significant impact in reducing the noise.

They also used more traditional techniques to reduce noise like those used in high-end headphones. The car listens for internal noises and cancels this noise by producing an identical and opposite wave, which is played through the car’s speakers. The clashing waves cancel each other out and this technology known as active noise cancellation are used in headphones to reduce ambient noise levels. In order to capture the complex sounds produced by the road and create an effective cancellation wave, the car uses eleven speakers and several digital signal processors that can counteract the noise.

Just like in the case of emissions, mandatory norms regarding noise will soon be implemented by regulatory bodies like the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA). The NHTSA had announced a few months ago that cars will need to comply with new sound rules regarding external noises by 2019. Lucid will definitely have an edge over other automakers when such norms are implemented.