Starting a car was always a simple task. You slid the key into the slot, turned the key, and the engine roared to life. It may be a little more complex than that, several start-up events took place, but the basic procedure listed above was always how you got the chain of events going.
Now as electric vehicles begin to take to the streets, buyers as well as manufacturers are beginning to wonder how the vehicle will start up. Some companies opt for the simple procedure listed above, while others such as Nissan is attempting to make the entire procedure a bit more dramatic.
With no engine to roar to life, Nissan hopes the start-up sequence for their upcoming LEAF will impress driver's in way that no engine growl could.
Nissan notes that it won't make the traditional gasoline engine crank and purr noise, but does admit an audible sound will be present. They envision a combination of lights on the dash coming alive followed by some sort of noise to alert the driver that the vehicle is ready to roll.
Though Nissan only hints at some possibilities, Larry Dominique, Nissan's North American Vice President of Product Planning did state, "The way the meters wakes up, the way the navi wakes up, will be a sequence of events that will probably take five to eight seconds or so to get the car up and ready to go."
Who would have thought that some much consideration would ever be given to the way vehicle starts when we have all grown so accustom to the traditional key into the slot, a twist, and a roar to life.
Source: Wards Auto (Login required)
