Gasoline scarcity and higher prices, awareness of our national oil insecurity and the environmental consequences of global warming will cause hybrid, electric and fuel-cell based vehicles to replace combustion engine vehicles. These technologically innovative vehicles are virtually silent at slow speeds.
The absence of acoustic cues currently produced by combustion engines poses a public safety threat to pedestrians, cyclists, children and animals. It also presents an opportunity for new customizable acoustic vehicle identities. While consumers, advocacy groups and some manufacturers recognize the risks posed by silently-operating vehicles, there are currently no product solutions available.
Automobile manufacturers and insurance companies will not respond to these risks until viable product solutions have a proven safety benefit. Approximately one million electric and hybrid vehicles are on the U.S. roadways.
Sales are expected to grow at rates >30% per year, resulting in 4-6 million quietly operating vehicles on the roads by 2012. However, many experts feel that the growth in hybrid and electric vehicles will occur much faster.