High pitched whirring noise?

My brand new Leaf (2 days old) makes a high pitched whirring noise (surprisingly loud) that roughly corresponds to the speed of the motor. Kind of sounds like a turbo spooling up. Is this normal?

tailgate1234 said:

My brand new Leaf (2 days old) makes a high pitched whirring noise (surprisingly loud) that roughly corresponds to the speed of the motor. Kind of sounds like a turbo spooling up. Is this normal?

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I don't know if it is normal, but mine does the same thing.

I like to drive to make it sound like a jet engine starting up.

Is it the Pedestrian Warning Sound (that quits at speeds over 18 mph)?

Or, is it a normal noise from the elecric motor (too high frequency for my old ears to hear)?

Do you hear it at all speeds?

You can hear the motor for sure, and it matches the description you give. My question, if you get a in a gas car and get on to a freeway on-ramp, which would be louder the gas engine or the whirring sound? That would give us a frame of reference for how loud it is, but yes I defiantly can hear the motor in mine, but it is about half the noise my gas cars make...

-Matt

its the pedestrian warning whine. u can turn it off. try it and see if noise goes away...unfortunately, it must be turned off every time you start up

The motor often is turning 4000 to 7000 rpm. It will go to 10,000 at top speed.

DaveinOlyWA said:

its the pedestrian warning whine. u can turn it off. try it and see if noise goes away...unfortunately, it must be turned off every time you start up

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Unless you do this: http://www.mynissanleaf.com/viewtopic.php?f=37&t=3296

I also hear it. It is similar to the sound of the inverter/motor on the Prius when it is doing a lot of regen. I can also believe that some peoples hearing range won't allow them to hear it. My wife easliy noticed this. Myself not as much. (Her hearing is better than mine.)

I was searching around to see if this had been already noted....

I am fairly finicky to this sound - in a car with an ICE and an aftermarket amplified stereo the same sound can be heard if the system is not properly grounded. Bugs me to NO end...

I noticed it today (had the car 2 days so far) - and its pretty much always there - although seems to be the loudest maybe between 30-40mph.

It is pretty annoying to me - but I don't know that everyone can hear it... I will try and ignore it....

Matt

I think it is not VPS, nor the motor.
It is not the turbine sound that changes pitch, it is constant pitch with changing power as you step on the gas, right? That is the sound that bothers me the most in Leaf as well...
If that's the case, it is main power invertor...
AFAIK it runs on frequency higher then we can hear, but some lower harmonics might be in audible high-pitch area, around 16-18 kHz, which some people can't hear at all... I wonder if that drives dogs and cats crazy

tailgate1234 said:

My brand new Leaf (2 days old) makes a high pitched whirring noise (surprisingly loud) that roughly corresponds to the speed of the motor. Kind of sounds like a turbo spooling up. Is this normal?

Click to expand...

margie100 said:

I don't know if it is normal, but mine does the same thing.

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x2

turbo2ltr said:

I like to drive to make it sound like a jet engine starting up.

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x2

mathewbeall said:

It is pretty annoying to me - but I don't know that everyone can hear it... I will try and ignore it....

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/2

Is there any way to stop or reduce this sound?

Bigger ground wire or Dynamat between cabin and motor/inverter help?

I also hear the sound - and I rather like it. Watch a video of the NISMO LEAF RC - you'll notice the exact same sound, but much louder.

You will notice that with the windows down if you drive beside a curb or wall of some sort, it gets louder. It's most noticeable under acceleration if you have the radio off.

Having the radio on at all basically drowns it out.

mathewbeall said:

It is pretty annoying to me - but I don't know that everyone can hear it... I will try and ignore it....

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I don't hear it when the music is playing - and the music is always playing in my car

BTW, MotorTrend writer is also annoyed about this - they include a graph of the noise in Leaf, Volt & Prius.

ht2 said:

Is there any way to stop or reduce this sound?

Bigger ground wire or Dynamat between cabin and motor/inverter help?

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Yes. Its the switch next to the dash dimmer switch. Keep in mind it must be turned off every time u start the car

Does anyone have any pets that they can take in the Leaf to see if they react to the noise or not? I am curious what the frequencies are and if the Leaf may be unsuitable for some animals due to more sensitive hearing.

SierraQ said:

Does anyone have any pets that they can take in the Leaf to see if they react to the noise or not? I am curious what the frequencies are and if the Leaf may be unsuitable for some animals due to more sensitive hearing.

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My two poodles don't seem to mind it and don't appear to behave any differently.

My two 10-year old "puppies" (Maltese) did not mind it
(whatever it is).

I have the same issue. This high pitch noise bothers me a lot while I am driving. I called CS. CS asked me to send the car for check up.
I sent my car to my local Nissan dealer last Friday. During the test driving, the tech said that noise came from the motor and might be normal, howeverhe would contact the high level support for this issue. The local service department called the cooperation on that day and has not got reply yet. My car is still in the dealer‘s service department.