Is the 62KwH Leaf Louder?

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Toby said:
DaveinOlyWA said:
I turned off ALL my sounds and I can't imagine any car being quieter.

Ah, the luxury of electric cars. I'm envious.

The safety issue is real. There is so much noise pollution that it is hard to hear EVs. (I don't know how blind people can navigate a busy parking lot. ) I don't know why there isn't more action against the worst of the noise makers. Instead the push is for EVs to add to the din.

There is no amount of warning that can prevent pedestrians from their own inattention. A friend of ours stepped in front of a truck and was instantly killed. We will never know what he was thinking but he certainly did not look to see if his way was clear.

While recognizing the problem I still think the Leaf's VSP is too loud, especially inside the car.

Pedestrians have been an issue that started well before the horse and buggy era. It remains your responsibility to be aware and assume the worst.

That also goes for other drivers. I was leaving my fave teriyaki place last Saturday and a guy who was parked next to my car, pushed his truck door until it was stopped by the hing... my door. Needless to say, another door ding that took paint this time. I didn't even see it but someone else did and left a note on my car with all the info needed.
 
Hi all,

This is my first post! We are fairly new Leaf drivers, having purchased a 2022 SV+ in Oct 2021. We noticed right away the very loud chiming sound when backing up. Honestly, this is by far the worst aspect of the car, which overall, we both love. It's very hard to understand why it is so loud.

Having owned the Leaf for a year, we are now in love with EVs, and are looking for a low cost second run-around car (EV). In our area, Western WA, this turns out to be only the older Leaf's and Chevy Bolts as full EV options available for low cost (under $10k). Yesterday, we drove a 2013 SV and were shocked to hear how quiet and pleasant the backup sound is on the older Leaf!

I am very motivated to reduce the backup sound volume to a reasonable level, but I'm concerned with liability issues if I disable or modify this "safety system". I sent an email to Nissan through their website and received only a canned response telling me to contact my dealer. Nissan did not even respond on the issue at all. I plan to call our dealer (Campbell Nissan Edmonds) and will try to remember to post an update.

As others have stated, I have also found that other EVs, plug-in hybrids, etc have no backup sounds or their backup sounds are MUCH quieter than the new Leafs.

Overall, the sheer volume of the new alarm seems ridiculous to me. Ultimately, it is a computer setting that should be adjustable. There is no logical reason that the Leaf alarm must be so much louder than every other car.

This is a very important issue for us, so we would appreciate any info or further progress/suggestions. Thanks all!
 
whidbeyleafer said:
Hi all,

This is my first post! We are fairly new Leaf drivers, having purchased a 2022 SV+ in Oct 2021. We noticed right away the very loud chiming sound when backing up. Honestly, this is by far the worst aspect of the car, which overall, we both love. It's very hard to understand why it is so loud.

Having owned the Leaf for a year, we are now in love with EVs, and are looking for a low cost second run-around car (EV). In our area, Western WA, this turns out to be only the older Leaf's and Chevy Bolts as full EV options available for low cost (under $10k). Yesterday, we drove a 2013 SV and were shocked to hear how quiet and pleasant the backup sound is on the older Leaf!

I am very motivated to reduce the backup sound volume to a reasonable level, but I'm concerned with liability issues if I disable or modify this "safety system". I sent an email to Nissan through their website and received only a canned response telling me to contact my dealer. Nissan did not even respond on the issue at all. I plan to call our dealer (Campbell Nissan Edmonds) and will try to remember to post an update.

As others have stated, I have also found that other EVs, plug-in hybrids, etc have no backup sounds or their backup sounds are MUCH quieter than the new Leafs.

Overall, the sheer volume of the new alarm seems ridiculous to me. Ultimately, it is a computer setting that should be adjustable. There is no logical reason that the Leaf alarm must be so much louder than every other car.

This is a very important issue for us, so we would appreciate any info or further progress/suggestions. Thanks all!

LEAF Spy Pro will disable ALL sounds if you choose to go that route, it would be the easiest.
 
whidbeyleafer said:
Hi all,

This is my first post! We are fairly new Leaf drivers, having purchased a 2022 SV+ in Oct 2021. We noticed right away the very loud chiming sound when backing up. Honestly, this is by far the worst aspect of the car, which overall, we both love. It's very hard to understand why it is so loud.

This is a very important issue for us, so we would appreciate any info or further progress/suggestions. Thanks all!

Welcome to the forum and the Leaf family.

I own a 2019 and a 2023 Leaf. Yes, the 2023 is louder than the 2019 but I am not going to let this drive me crazy. And if this is the "worst aspect of the car" then I think you should count yourself lucky! Seriously, how much do you drive in reverse? And the forward motion noise stops at 26 mph. I hear it but I don't pay attention and then it goes away.

If these noises help a pedestrian or prevent an accident, then I think they are worth the minor annoyance. My 2 cents.
 
LeftieBiker said:
DaveinOlyWA said:
LeftieBiker said:
Starting around 2020, IIRC, LeafSpy Pro can't modify or eliminate the pedestrian warning sounds.

2022

Maybe I just haven't tried to do it with my '21, or my housemate's '20.

The timing iirc was aligned with the national law on pedestrian warning alerts which happened mid year so the MY following was when it all started. But the law was delayed so many times its not clear when it actually started but looks like it could have been July 2021?
 
LHN said:
whidbeyleafer said:
Hi all,

This is my first post! We are fairly new Leaf drivers, having purchased a 2022 SV+ in Oct 2021. We noticed right away the very loud chiming sound when backing up. Honestly, this is by far the worst aspect of the car, which overall, we both love. It's very hard to understand why it is so loud.

This is a very important issue for us, so we would appreciate any info or further progress/suggestions. Thanks all!

Welcome to the forum and the Leaf family.

I own a 2019 and a 2023 Leaf. Yes, the 2023 is louder than the 2019 but I am not going to let this drive me crazy. And if this is the "worst aspect of the car" then I think you should count yourself lucky! Seriously, how much do you drive in reverse? And the forward motion noise stops at 26 mph. I hear it but I don't pay attention and then it goes away.

If these noises help a pedestrian or prevent an accident, then I think they are worth the minor annoyance. My 2 cents.

Yes, it's definitely a "first world problem". We should all keep things in perspective.

At the same time, I don't see any reason the Leaf should be louder than every other car out there. If this really is a mandatory safety standard, then why are other cars seemingly exempted? It seems clear that Nissan chose to make the new Leaf backup alarm much louder than required.

As an update, I bought an OBD connector and downloaded LeafSpy Pro yesterday. Lots of data/info to sort through, but I can confirm that I am not able to disable either the forward or backup sounds. I was able to change the toggle switches, but when I put the car in reverse, the toggle automatically switched back and the sound turned on like normal.
 
whidbeyleafer said:
LHN said:
whidbeyleafer said:
Hi all,

This is my first post! We are fairly new Leaf drivers, having purchased a 2022 SV+ in Oct 2021. We noticed right away the very loud chiming sound when backing up. Honestly, this is by far the worst aspect of the car, which overall, we both love. It's very hard to understand why it is so loud.

This is a very important issue for us, so we would appreciate any info or further progress/suggestions. Thanks all!

Welcome to the forum and the Leaf family.

I own a 2019 and a 2023 Leaf. Yes, the 2023 is louder than the 2019 but I am not going to let this drive me crazy. And if this is the "worst aspect of the car" then I think you should count yourself lucky! Seriously, how much do you drive in reverse? And the forward motion noise stops at 26 mph. I hear it but I don't pay attention and then it goes away.

If these noises help a pedestrian or prevent an accident, then I think they are worth the minor annoyance. My 2 cents.

Yes, it's definitely a "first world problem". We should all keep things in perspective.

At the same time, I don't see any reason the Leaf should be louder than every other car out there. If this really is a mandatory safety standard, then why are other cars seemingly exempted? It seems clear that Nissan chose to make the new Leaf backup alarm much louder than required.

As an update, I bought an OBD connector and downloaded LeafSpy Pro yesterday. Lots of data/info to sort through, but I can confirm that I am not able to disable either the forward or backup sounds. I was able to change the toggle switches, but when I put the car in reverse, the toggle automatically switched back and the sound turned on like normal.


Well, that was already confirmed but LEAF Spy provides a ton of valuable info and its cheap. If you are into road trips, knowing the real range on the car can be quite valuable when planning trips and charging stops.
 
LHN said:
If these noises help a pedestrian or prevent an accident, then I think they are worth the minor annoyance.

Agreed, but they don't stop pedestrians from walking behind me when I'm backing up. If safety is the issue then it's not working.
 
Toby said:
LHN said:
If these noises help a pedestrian or prevent an accident, then I think they are worth the minor annoyance.

Agreed, but they don't stop pedestrians from walking behind me when I'm backing up. If safety is the issue then it's not working.

The whole thing would make a lot more sense if they would have put the speaker in the back of the car.
 
The whole thing would make a lot more sense if they would have put the speaker in the back of the car.

You want senseless? The Gen III Prius has the speaker inside the car. The driver gets blasted with a very loud beeping backup warning, while people outside the car probably don't even hear it.
 
LeftieBiker said:
The whole thing would make a lot more sense if they would have put the speaker in the back of the car.

You want senseless? The Gen III Prius has the speaker inside the car. The driver gets blasted with a very loud beeping backup warning, while people outside the car probably don't even hear it.

The Gen "everyone" Prius was that way. My 2004 when the windows were rolled up, anyone outside frequently couldnt hear the backup beep at all
 
whidbeyleafer said:
Toby said:
LHN said:
If these noises help a pedestrian or prevent an accident, then I think they are worth the minor annoyance.

Agreed, but they don't stop pedestrians from walking behind me when I'm backing up. If safety is the issue then it's not working.

The whole thing would make a lot more sense if they would have put the speaker in the back of the car.

It's put in the front because that is where most of the accidents with pedestrians occur.

Just to add my $0.02 to this discussion, I have a 2020 Leaf where you can still disable *all* the sounds and I did try that for a short while, but I was actually having a problem with people walking in front of me while driving forward. The final straw was when a lady walked in front of me and then curled up on the ground screaming as she though death was imminent. My dreams of the stealth mobile were dashed that day and I turned on all the VPS sounds again and have left them on since then.

While we can all debate *why* the Leaf is too loud, it really comes down to where you live. I live in a city where there is a lot of foot traffic from pedestrians and thus VPS is a must. Even though, you still have those phone people that don't pay attention to anything and still walk out in front of you, the effect of the VPS is a real thing, it really does *help* people know that you are coming. It's not 100% of course, but while I also agree that there is some legal stuff behind it also as mentioned earlier, turning it off really is a danger to people that don't quite pay attention to where they are going as good as they should.

If you live in a rural area where people walking around is not an issue, I can see why you would want to just turn it off too, but again, should you drive to a crowded town or city, what are you going to do then? Turn your radio up loud? :lol:
 
knightmb said:
whidbeyleafer said:
Toby said:
Agreed, but they don't stop pedestrians from walking behind me when I'm backing up. If safety is the issue then it's not working.

The whole thing would make a lot more sense if they would have put the speaker in the back of the car.

It's put in the front because that is where most of the accidents with pedestrians occur.

Just to add my $0.02 to this discussion, I have a 2020 Leaf where you can still disable *all* the sounds and I did try that for a short while, but I was actually having a problem with people walking in front of me while driving forward. The final straw was when a lady walked in front of me and then curled up on the ground screaming as she though death was imminent. My dreams of the stealth mobile were dashed that day and I turned on all the VPS sounds again and have left them on since then.

While we can all debate *why* the Leaf is too loud, it really comes down to where you live. I live in a city where there is a lot of foot traffic from pedestrians and thus VPS is a must. Even though, you still have those phone people that don't pay attention to anything and still walk out in front of you, the effect of the VPS is a real thing, it really does *help* people know that you are coming. It's not 100% of course, but while I also agree that there is some legal stuff behind it also as mentioned earlier, turning it off really is a danger to people that don't quite pay attention to where they are going as good as they should.

If you live in a rural area where people walking around is not an issue, I can see why you would want to just turn it off too, but again, should you drive to a crowded town or city, what are you going to do then? Turn your radio up loud? :lol:

It makes sense to be in the front for the sound that occurs while driving forward. It does not make sense to have the sound coming from the front when you’re backing up.
 
Hi all,

This is my first post! We are fairly new Leaf drivers, having purchased a 2022 SV+ in Oct 2021. We noticed right away the very loud chiming sound when backing up. Honestly, this is by far the worst aspect of the car, which overall, we both love. It's very hard to understand why it is so loud.

Having owned the Leaf for a year, we are now in love with EVs, and are looking for a low cost second run-around car (EV). In our area, Western WA, this turns out to be only the older Leaf's and Chevy Bolts as full EV options available for low cost (under $10k). Yesterday, we drove a 2013 SV and were shocked to hear how quiet and pleasant the backup sound is on the older Leaf!

I am very motivated to reduce the backup sound volume to a reasonable level, but I'm concerned with liability issues if I disable or modify this "safety system". I sent an email to Nissan through their website and received only a canned response telling me to contact my dealer. Nissan did not even respond on the issue at all. I plan to call our dealer (Campbell Nissan Edmonds) and will try to remember to post an update.

As others have stated, I have also found that other EVs, plug-in hybrids, etc have no backup sounds or their backup sounds are MUCH quieter than the new Leafs.

Overall, the sheer volume of the new alarm seems ridiculous to me. Ultimately, it is a computer setting that should be adjustable. There is no logical reason that the Leaf alarm must be so much louder than every other car.

This is a very important issue for us, so we would appreciate any info or further progress/suggestions. Thanks all!
Have you finally figured out how to lower the VSP sound?
 
I have a somewhat random question regarding the Nissan Leaf. Is the 62kWh version noticeably louder at low speeds compared to the 40kWh version? If anyone has insights or experiences with this, please share. If this is a concern, it might be worth discussing with the dealer.
 
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