Do EVs Snore?

As EV and PHEV adoption continues to increase more people will have direct experiences with these quieter vehicles in their daily lives. Topics such as 'propulsion sound' via Active Sound Design (ASD) and bystander safety through Acoustic Vehicle Alerting Systems (AVAS) have been discussed widely for many, many years...but who is talking about Charging Noise? Charging noise is a less spoken about topic because most EV / PHEV owners will charge their vehicles at their home, in their garage or their driveway, overnight when they are sleeping. Because of that people do not think much about charging noise. But anyone who has plugged in their car overnight will tell you a strange cacophony of sounds come from the car...and some can be downright concerning. In this paper data from several production EVs were measured during their normal charging cycle. Binaural recordings made inside and outside the vehicle are analyzed using psychoacoustics metrics to see what sounds would cause the most concerns by EV / PHEV owners or neighbors who hear these noises in the middle of the night. Find out if EVs do indeed dream of electrical sheep at night!