The transition to electric vehicles (EVs) is an opportunity to drastically reduce urban noise pollution. Because EVs don’t have loud internal combustion engines, they are naturally quiet. Our communities would finally experience relief from the chronic stress of traffic noise.

Unfortunately, some automakers are actively undermining this progress by developing "Exterior Sound Enhancement Systems" (ESES), high-powered external speakers that are intentionally designed to mimic the loud "vroom-vroom" sounds of traditional combustion engines. The automakers’ justification for this noise is to create a brand identity, but they are disregarding the significant, measurable harm that motor vehicle noise does to public health.

The data surrounding this trend is concerning:

• The implementation of Exterior Sound Enhancement Systems (ESES) introduces simulated, non-safety noises directly into our shared public spaces.

• Specific models, such as the Dodge Charger EV featuring a "Fratzonic Chambered Exhaust," blast simulated noises reaching up to 126 decibels (as loud as an ambulance siren).

• This practice actively uses noise pollution, a massive public health issue, as a completely unnecessary, manufactured marketing gimmick.

Sleep deprivation and environmental stress are legitimate health crises, and introducing artificial noise for anything other than safety contradicts every objective goal of healthy, liveable cities. We are pushing back against the normalization of fake vehicle noise.

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