Silence for the driver - noise for the environment
Jaguar Land Rover (JLR), a long-established British company, has developed a passenger cell designed to reduce noise pollution.
The Jaguar F-Pace and Range Rover Velar P400e car models will in future be equipped with the Active Road Noise Cancelling System. According to the manufacturer, this technical innovation from JLR suppresses low-frequency noise in the vehicle's interior. JLR hopes that the new system will optimise the driver's ability to concentrate. According to the designers and taking into account medical findings, disturbing background noise is responsible for dwindling concentration and fatigue during long journeys and can lead directly to accidents in extreme cases.
For example, the British car manufacturer's models mentioned above can measure the vibration of tyres, the noise of which is then acoustically suppressed in the passenger compartment with the aid of anti-noise. According to information from the manufacturer, the system works in real time, which is helpful when driving over potholes. Sensors on the seat belts constantly measure the acoustic level of the passenger compartment and react in combination with a system for noise suppression in the engine compartment. According to the manufacturer's information, this ensures a reduction of 10 dB in noise peaks, while the overall level can be reduced by 3 to 4 dB.
However, other vehicle manufacturers are also adopting this technical principle. Ford, Audi and Jeep, for example, have already developed similar approaches to reducing background noise. The system described by JLR, on the other hand, will be the first of its kind to be installed in series. While vehicle manufacturers are concentrating on the passenger compartment and want to make it as quiet and pleasant as possible for the driver, they are unfortunately forgetting what they are doing to the environment and people outside the vehicle. The roaring horsepower of the engine and the booming exhaust remains...Silence is privatised, noise is socialised!
Noise in the transport sector has been under particular media and medical observation in recent months. As a result, noise protection zones are becoming more and more popular and absolutely necessary. This is an acute sign that the perception of legislators, consumers and last but not least manufacturers is changing when we talk about other negative aspects of the internationally increasing road traffic besides emissions.