Improved Customer Experience through Electric Vehicle Sound Enhancement

Abstract

<div class="section abstract"><div class="htmlview paragraph">Electric Vehicles are typically thought of as being quiet and refined, but they do come with some unique N&V challenges. Some of these challenges include a natural sound that can be undesirable due to its tonal nature, presence of high frequency, discontinuities in sound, and characteristics and levels that do not always naturally increase with motor torque and vehicle speed. One approach to address those challenges is Electric Vehicle Sound Enhancement (EVSE) which is a software feature embedded within the infotainment system. EVSE can be used to improve the perception of the vehicle by enhancing the preferred natural sounds of the vehicle, masking unusual and annoying components of the sound and aurally conveying information related to the vehicle performance. A jury study was conducted to better understand how EVSE can be used to accomplish this. This paper will summarize a typical EVSE system and highlight some of the tools and methods that can be used to develop an EVSE tuning that mitigates unpleasant sounds while enhancing the customer experience without completely changing the vehicle DNA. Vehicle examples that mitigate issues and enhance the vehicle sound will be used to help describe the benefits and methods of EVSE.</div></div>

A literature review [2000–2022] on vehicle acoustics: Investigations on perceptual parameters of interior soundscapes in electrified vehicles

“…Although the preference for ICEV-resembling sound concepts might have been influenced by the sample's driving experience (62.5% driving an ICEV, 25% a hybrid and 12.5% an EV), Lanslots et al (2020) recommended aiming for a balanced proportion of powerful ICEV-resemblance and naturalistic EV sound depending on the load condition. Valeri and Pietila (2020) as well investigated EV sound enhancement as a method to improve NVH-related customer experience by accentuating the natural quiet sound character of EVs, while masking novel and annoying highfrequency components as well as offering feedback on vehicle performance. Differently enhanced sounds were recorded at the driver's ears positions in a full pedal drive-away scenario and subsequently evaluated for preference in a paired comparison task as well as on a semantic differential to describe the experience (Valeri & Pietila, 2020).…”

“…Valeri and Pietila (2020) as well investigated EV sound enhancement as a method to improve NVH-related customer experience by accentuating the natural quiet sound character of EVs, while masking novel and annoying highfrequency components as well as offering feedback on vehicle performance. Differently enhanced sounds were recorded at the driver's ears positions in a full pedal drive-away scenario and subsequently evaluated for preference in a paired comparison task as well as on a semantic differential to describe the experience (Valeri & Pietila, 2020). Valeri and Pietila (2020) found the following results: a reduction of tones (compared to baseline) led to a less sporty, exciting, or futuristic impression while at the same time it promoted a more smooth, natural, luxurious, effortless, pleasant, and harmonious impression; the addition of order harmonics enhanced the impression of sportiness and…”

“…Frontiers in Mechanical Engineering frontiersin.org excitement while it reduced perceived smoothness, effortlessness, and the harmonious impression; a musical approach of sound enhancement through additional tones with spectral spacing led to a more futuristic, pleasant and harmonious impression, but was perceived as less sporty, exciting and natural. Finally, the results from the paired comparison indicated the diversity of customer preferences and the ability of sound enhancement to impact the product impression, as no sound is preferred overall and only subgroups could be extracted: 25% liked the sound without any modulation significantly better, and 17% preferred the modulation resembling a V8 motor (Valeri & Pietila, 2020). Melman et al (2021) compared the effects on the perceived sportiness of EVs through measures of Modified Throttle Mapping (MTM) and Artificial Engine Sound (AES) to a baseline condition and a highperformant sports ICEV.…”