Electric or hybrid vehicles are very silent, which represents a major advantage for the reduction of noise annoyance in urban areas. But this makes them dangerous for pedestrians, especially vulnerable ones as visuallyimpaired people. Current solutions consist in using warning sound so that the exterior noise of an electric vehicle is as high as for a conventional one. This may cancel the benefit of electric vehicles for the reduction of sound annoyance. The eVADER project (funded by the European Commission) aims at proposing a prototype car which combines a high safety and a low noise level. A part of the the work program consisted in perceptual studies. The goal of these studies was to evaluate the influence of various timbre parameters on the detectability and the unpleasantness of a warning sound. Results show that it is possible to make an electric vehicle easily detected while keeping its sound level much lower than the one of a conventional car.
RésuméLes véhicules électriques ou hybrides sont très silencieux, ce qui représente un avantage dans la lutte pour la réduction de la gêne sonore en milieu urbain. Mais ceci les rend également dangereux pour les piétons, les personnes vulnérables tels que les non-voyants étant particulièrement concernées. Les solutions actuellement proposées consistent à ajouter à ces véhicules des signaux d'alerte les rendant aussi sonores que des véhicules conventionnels, ce qui annule l'avantage pour l'environnement. Le projet eVADER, soutenu par la Commission Européenne, veut proposer un prototype permettant de combiner une bonne sécurité et un niveau de bruit réduit. Parmi les travaux réalisés, des études perceptives ont permis d'évaluer l'influence de divers paramètres du timbre d'un signal d'alerte sur la détectabilité du véhicule et le désagrément du bruit. Les résultats montrent qu'il est possible de parvenir à une bonne détectabilité d'un véhicule électrique en lui conservant un niveau sonore très nettement inférieur à celui d'une automobile conventionnelle.Mots-clé: véhicules électriques, bruit, signal d'alarme, sécurité, environnement sonore.
Electric or hybrid vehicles are very quiet at low speeds, which represents a very good opportunity to reduce traffic noise annoyance in cities. On the other hand, this may be very hazardous for vulnerable pedestrians (e.g. visually impaired people). The aim of the eVADER project is to propose solutions in order to add warning sounds to such cars, while fulfilling two contradictory goals : sounds should be detectable but should not contribute to traffic noise annoyance. Different perceptual experiments have been conducted : the first one evaluated the influence of various timbre parameters on sound detectability. It was shown that an electric vehicle equipped with one particular sound was as easily detected as a diesel one, while keeping a very low level. Then the influence of some timbre parameters (pitch and temporal modulation frequency) on the distance and speed as perceived by listeners was measured. Finally, a third experiment was devoted to the consequence on traffic noise annoyance of such warning sounds.
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