Future Ferrari electric supercars could have exhaust note or engine rev sound according to newly uncovered patents. Despite the move to electric cars, Ferrari wants to keep their iconic supercar sounds made by combustion engines and have come up with a rather genius way to achieve it.
The patent describes the solution as a “reproduction device for the realization of a sound that can be associated with an electric motor,”
It appears that Ferrari intends to amplify the noise produced by one or more electric onboard motors before directing it out the back of the vehicle. The patent drawings show a “sound reproduction device” near the rear axle.
The goal is to associate what’s happening in the drivetrain to the sound itself. The patents also show that Ferrari has already conducted experiments which produced different sounds based on motor speed. It seems that the sounds could be fine-tuned to produce the specific note that the manufacturer prefers.
In the documentation, Ferrari defends this technology by stating that “the sound generated by the engine allows drivers to have an immediate feedback on the conditions of the vehicle and on what has to be done in order to achieve given performances” and that “the sound generated by the engine allows drivers to have an immediate feedback on the conditions of the vehicle and on what has to be done in order to achieve given performances.”
Ferrari isn’t the only manufacturer experimenting with exhaust sounds in electric vehicles (which typically lack the internal combustion engine and exhausts that produce these sounds); Dodge previously demonstrated a similar concept. The Dodge Charger Daytona SRT EV Concept debuted with a Fratzonic exhaust system, which used sensors in the car to detect an increase in speed and produce a corresponding sound via an amplifier.