Ferrari, Dodge fine-tune artificial noise for EVs

High-performance car fans love the roar of V-8 and V-12 engines. But as vehicles using these powertrains start making way for electric vehicles, automakers including Stellantis and Ferrari are betting customers will still want to keep making noise with EVs.

When Stellantis unveiled its Dodge Charger Daytona SRT Concept in August, the muscle-car brand debuted an industry-first exhaust system for EVs.

“No, Dodge has not found a way for an electric car to pump equal parts engine noise and CO2 into the air,” Car and Driver wrote. It designed a system to amplify the near-silent hum of electric motors into “a 126-decibel cacophony worthy of the SRT badge.”

Ferrari too is working on a way to create distinctive noises tied to the actual performance of an EV powertrain, enabling drivers to not just feel but also hear realistic vehicle feedback.

Analysts at Oddo BHF last month flagged that the supercar maker had filed for a patent for its device, which could go into its first full-electric model coming in 2025.

While the company has declined to comment on the device specifically, CEO Benedetto Vigna believes sound will be essential to any Ferrari, including those powered by battery.

“I have no doubt that our electric powertrains will give clients the same thrills” as combustion engines, Vigna said in an interview.

“The point is how to extract the best emotion from the use of this technology, giving something unique to the clients.”

Automakers have long fine-tuned the pitch that is emitted from their combustion engines, to the point that car buffs can name that tune when a particular generation Ford Mustang rolls up or distinguish between a Lamborghini or Bugatti roaring by.

Unsurprisingly, enthusiasts with strong feelings about how a marque or model should sound have been unsparing in their early assessment of the Dodge concept’s mountain lion-like audio profile.

Brand boss Tim Kuniskis told Motor Trend and Road & Track that much of the initial feedback about the Charger Daytona SRT Concept’s growl was negative, and that Dodge will keep refining it.

The distinct sounds brands such as Dodge and Ferrari are working on are much higher stakes than Tesla’s gimmicky “Fart Mode” that’s good for a laugh and little else.

Performance automakers will have their work cut out for them enticing customers to switch to a new type of drivetrain likely to render vehicles even more expensive.

Because EVs can barely be heard when going slowly, regulators in Europe, the U.S. and China have been requiring that they come with a built-in sound system that alerts bicyclists and pedestrians.

Automakers have a bit more room to maneuver with different sounds when EVs go faster and emit more tire and wind noise.

Some have even turned to creative outsiders to give their vehicles a sonic edge.

Jaguar tapped electronic musician Richard Devine to design sounds for its first full EV, the i-Pace.

Volkswagen hired Leslie Mandoki, a German-Hungarian music producer who has worked with Phil Collins and Chaka Khan, for the ID 3.

BMW teamed with Oscar-winning film score composer Hans Zimmer — his works include Hollywood blockbusters Gladiator and The Lion King — to create special noises for its EVs, including a spaceship-like hum when powering up.

“Ever since the industrial revolution and we have had combustion engines, the sound of cities — the sound of our lives — have been dictated by that,” Zimmer said in a video on the project.

“Now, suddenly, we have the opportunity to change the sonic landscape of this whole planet.”