If you’ve ever driven an electric car or have been in close proximity to one in a parking lot, you’ve probably heard a strange noise emitting from under the hood or bumper. That’s because, as of September 2019, EVs are required by law in the U.S. to emit an audible noise when traveling at speeds up to 19 mph to alert pedestrians of their presence, per Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard No. 141.
Other than tire noise, EVs are usually totally silent on the outside, since they don’t have the noise of thousands of little explosions from an internal combustion engine coming from an exhaust. So it’d make sense for an otherwise quiet two-ton-plus battering ram to make a noise to alert the people around it of its presence.
The NHTSA doesn’t specify the type of sound EVs have to make, though, which has led to some fascinating noises, some of which you probably wouldn’t expect from a car without an engine. The Hyundai Ioniq 5 N’s fake turbo four-cylinder noises and the Dodge Charger Daytona’s Fratzonic Chambered Exhaust, which replicates the sound of a naturally aspirated V8, come to mind.
Most carmakers go in a different direction for their EVs, though, electing to play futuristic hums through the external speakers to alert pedestrians. Tesla, Toyota, Volkswagen, and many others are well known for this. Nissan, with its new Leaf crossover, takes these noises to a totally different, much more haunting place.
This Sound Makes Me Uncomfortable
While rotting my brain on TikTok, I came across this video of a new Nissan Leaf reversing. Normally, seeing a car reverse through a parking garage isn’t very interesting. But if you listen with sound, you’ll understand why I’m sharing it here.
@evercarsco 2026 Nissan LEAF Reverse Sound ???? #ev #nissan #NissanLEAF #EV #CarSound ♬ original sound – Ever Cars
Like the other brands mentioned above, Nissan employs a sort of futuristic high-pitched hum for its reversing noise. But it sounds far more… sinister than any other car I’ve heard before, for two main reasons. The first is the tone itself. It reminds me of something you’d hear in the background of a sci-fi horror movie or video game. The second is the pulsing delivery of the sound. It’s an on-off noise rather than a continuous delivery, making it feel like a church chorus you’d hear when you’re about to face a boss in a Dark Souls game.
I could imagine it being overlaid in that scene from the 2013 feature film Prometheus, where the astronaut-explorers are marching into the alien-made superstructure they just discovered for the first time. Or in the video game Halo 3, when you’re about to face off with the Flood, a parasitic alien life form that turns the dead bodies of your allies into zombified enemy corpses. My colleague Jason had another apt suggestion:
If I heard that, I would certainly assume the latter, Jason.
Nissan Was Nice Enough To Explain It To Me
Rather than just assume the Leaf’s engineers are trying to traumatize pedestrians with every gearshift into reverse, I reached out to the brand to see if it could tell me why, exactly, the Leaf’s backup sound is so unsettling. A representative gave me a nice, detailed response that actually sounds pretty logical:
The sound you’re hearing is part of the LEAF’s Vehicle Sound for Pedestrians (VSP) system, required because EVs are very quiet at low speeds. It uses a distinctive, intermittent tone in reverse to make the car’s direction immediately clear and ensure it’s easily noticed by pedestrians, including those with visual impairments. The intermittent pattern is intentional — it’s more attention grabbing than a constant tone and helps differentiate reversing from low speed forward motion, which uses a continuous sound.
The point of a reverse noise is to be noticed, not appreciated. And if there’s one thing this scary backup sound does, with its underworld tone and perfectly cinematic pulses, it’s get noticed (by me, anyway). While I hope I never have to hear it in real life, I have no choice but to commend Nissan’s engineers for their ability to keep pedestrians on their toes, and possibly their hair on end.
Top graphic images: Ever Cars/TikTok; MGM/Amblin
Sounds like distant traffic on a bridge or in a tunnel. Or aliens.
Using that picture of the demon/ghost thing from Poltergeist was a good choice. Still probably the most frightening PG-rated movie out there
Sounds like rusty brake rotors that need to be turned.
It seems, as an outside observer, that some companies put more effort into the backup sounds that others. Our EVquinox has a sound that’s quite loud and noticeable from outside (from my office’s single pane window I can hear my wife getting home while her car is still a couple houses down) but very quiet from inside the car. Well done on GM’s part.
crazy thing is they’ve had to keep making it louder….
Chevy Recalls 23K Equinox EVs for Being Too Quiet at Low Speeds
…which is insane because at this point, they’re significantly louder than the ICE vehicles. I can always tell when my GM EV neighbors are coming home.
We got the notice in the mail for the recall (and over the air update). I didn’t look up the change to see how it was going to change. I just can’t imagine how louder is necessary, but maybe it’s due to the test methodology or something (which direction they measure from or something).
I dig it. But I’d probably disconnect the speaker anyways.
This shit would make me think I was in a horror movie if I heard this in a parking garage haha. My Polestar’s back up beep is so innocent compare to this.
My old Volvo made that sound when the brakes had a little rust first thing in the morning.
Reminds me of the sound the BART trains in SF make
I thought so too
I always feel like these noises sound like Bruce Banner turning into the Hulk.
Many electric cars make a sound exactly like a failing water pump. I wish they had a different sound, haunted house sound might not be the answer.
Reverse beeps are for garbage trucks and old people. Just some decently sized reversing lights are enough.
My Figaro also beeps (inside the car, due to some Japanese logic) and I think it’s embarassing!
The “silent electric car is actually moving slowly ” sound is fine (except when they are annoying) but no need to alter it in reverse.
Ugh I’m in India for work and Tiktok is banned here apparently. Any alternative sound sources?
https://www.youtube.com/shorts/CYzAkbo17eQ
I want to hack it to play “You’re Not the Boss of Me Now” from Malcolm in the Middle.
I’d rather have this than the ‘beep beep’ of a commercial truck noise my Escape makes when backing up. Most annoying is the low speed noise forward is quite good, people say it sounds like a spaceship, and I can barely hear it inside the car.
Wow, that is creepy enough to almost make me think the Dodge Fratzonic sound isn’t so bad.
Can you customize those sounds? Because I have ideas!
Almost certainly not, since it’s a safety thing, but…
Ludacris – Move Bitch
Juvenile – Back That Thing Up
Depeche Mode – Going Backwards
Beatles – Get Back
I like your ideas too.
One does have to be careful not to take it too far though. Many years ago some jerk neighbor had a car alarm that screamed HELP!! HELP ME!!” in the voice of a small child. That was NOT something I appreciated waking up to at 4 AM!
I always thought that something like this for a custom horn sound would be good
https://youtu.be/6OjUE5FAN0E
It would certainly get my attention.
It would certainly get my attention.
I also like Dustin Hoffman’s voice shouting “HEY! I’M DRIVIN’ HERE!”
You can also get the same effect if your car has budget tires and no ABS. I found briefly locking all four tires at someone when they did something dumb like turn in front of me without looking got the message across far, far more effectively than honking. I almost always got a sheepish wave instead of rage.
Saw a Cadillac Lyriq in a parking lot the other day, It sings a song!
I cannot believe no one has said it sounds like the TARDIS being piloted with the brake on. My first thought was to start looking around for David Tennant.
Came here to say this, too! Now i want someone to hack an EV to play that sound.
I could have written Nissan’s explanation, no problem. 😉
If they sell enough Leafs (Leaves?) we’ll get used to that noise the same way most folks are now used to the unusual hissing back-up noise produced by Amazon delivery vans.
The Leaf still looks good in that Robin’s Egg blue, with those funky wheels. I don’t think that I’ve seen one in person yet on the car-crazy streets of LA, which doesn’t bode that well for Nissan I suppose.
Didn’t Nissan already say this was the final generation for the Leaf, or am I just misremembering? Maybe that’ll keep resale prices for this third-gen Leaf low, and I can finally get an EV. Considering the hoops (and not inconsiderable expense) that I just went through this week to get two of my three old cars to pass smog, I’m probably overdue for an electric car by now.
PS: unrelated, but I asked a Fedex delivery driver how he liked the Brightstar EV van he was using, and he replied that he ‘loved it.’ I almost didn’t have the heart to tell him GM had just discontinued them.
I wouldn’t mind having one of them used either… assuming it’s possible to get them serviced someplace in SoCal. I’ve never even sat in one, but from the videos I’ve watched, they seem like they’d make a perfectly nice daily/around-town driver. 🙂
A sound with a hiss or white noise component is easier for humans (and other animals) to locate spatially. Sine waves , like traditional sirens, are difficult, and sine waves that change pitch, like traditional sirens, are even more difficult. If you were trying to design a sound that would confuse people as to its location, those police sirens that keep changing their sound would probably be the most confusing that you could come up with.