One of the most pleasing aspects of electric vehicles is the noise ... or rather, the lack of same. Other than a surprisingly pleasant whine coming from the motor, electric vehicles are almost entirely silent. A couple of days ago (scroll down for it), we had a video from a giant electric trash truck, which was barely audible except when trash was being dumped.

Unfortunately, pedestrians and bicyclists depend on hearing a vehicle to know it's there. The nearly-silent Tesla Roadster (see picture) might be impossible to notice on time.

There is a bill before Congress that would require the Transportation Department to establish safety standards to solve this problem.

Despite this, I would really hate to see electric cars lose their silent mojo. Perhaps we can find some other way to make them noticable, like make all of them look like the Tesla Roadster instead of a tiny box?

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