The Electric Vehicle Regulations

Huge developments have been made across the electric vehicle market in the last 10 years and now electric vehicles exceed many capabilities set by their internal combustion engine counterparts. With increasing numbers of electric vehicles on the road, it is now forecast that over 4.5 million will be sold by 2020 across the globe, making significant strides towards environmentally friendly travel. However, since the start of this growth in electric vehicle sales, there have been calls across the industry to make Acoustic Vehicle Alerting Systems (AVAS) mandatory to ensure vulnerable road users can hear quiet vehicles at slow speeds. When operating below 20kph electric and hybrid vehicles are almost silent, leading to collisions with pedestrians and cyclists who simply could not hear the vehicles coming. Both Europe and the USA have introduced legislation to ensure Acoustic Vehicle Alerting Systems are fitted to quiet vehicles. Both sets of regulation are identical when measuring the sound emitted by the AVAS: the pass-by noise is measured at 2 m and at speeds up to 20 km/h.

Since 2010, Brigade has been involved in the Quiet Road Transport Vehicles working group to establish requirements for a UN standard. With final amendments passed 2016 and regulation will now come in to affect in September 2019.

European AVAS Legislation – UNECE Addendum 137: UN Regulation No. 138

Key Dates:

From September 2019: New models of electric vehicles and hybrid vehicles that can operate without an internal combustion engine running must be fitted with an Acoustic Vehicle Alerting System.

From September 2021:  All new electric and hybrid vehicle models released before 2019 that can operate without an internal combustion running must be fitted with an Acoustic Vehicle Alerting System.

Some of the main requirements:

• Sound from different frequency bands
• Sound when stationary
• Frequency shift linked to speed
• Increasing volume with increasing speed
• The AVAS must sound at speeds from 0kph – 20kph, when the vehicle is stationary and ready to move, and when the vehicle is operating in reverse.

USA AVAS Legislation – NHTSA 49 CFR Part 571 and 585

This standard requires hybrid and electric passenger cars, light trucks and vans (LTVs), and low speed vehicles (LSVs) to produce sounds meeting the requirements of this standard.

Key Dates:

From September 2019: All electric passenger cars, LTVs and LSVs must comply with this legislation from this date.

Some of the main requirements:

• High sound frequencies
• Low sound frequencies
• Sound when stationary
• Increasing volume with increasing speed
• The AVAS must sound when the vehicle is operating up to 30 km/h (18 mph), when the vehicle is stationary ready to move, and when the vehicle is operating in reverse.

How Brigade Can Help

Brigade’s very own Acoustic Vehicle Alerting System, the Quiet Vehicle Sounder, has been designed to enable vehicles fitted with Brigade’s Quiet Vehicle Sounder to achieve compliance with both European and North American regulations.

Need more information?

Find out more about the Quiet Vehicle Sounder or Contact Us, we’d be happy to help.