[Quietcars] 2009 Detroit Auto Show

[Robert Wilson]

Hi,

I just got back from the Toyota 2010 Prius presentation and the 2009 Detroit Auto Show. These are my impressions:

A work in progress, this page shows what I found interesting at the [URL="http://hiwaay.net/%7Ebzwilson/prius/pri_2010.html"]2009 Detroit Auto Show[/URL]. Overall, the hybrid presence was good and there was a lot of attention paid to fuel economy. However there was plenty of stuff for the traditional 'gear heads.' As for the vehicle sheet metal shells, no doubt they were lovely.

There was one fuel cell and a couple fo electric vehicles. Tesla was there as well as several others. However, my real interest is in hybrid drive systems and there were plenty of engineering cut-aways.

Noise Makers on Hybrids and Electric Cars

I met Scott Innis of Lotus Engineering, Ann Arbor, who was the designer of the Prius speaker system, which he did for "Baxter." His primary interest is in noise canceling of the exhaust, which would reduce back-flow pressure and allow tuned, performance exhausts. He also mentioned making engine noise for those who need the illusion. I also asked him about the issue of blind pedestrians, "the bodies," and he doesn't see the need. His interest is in performance cars and selling systems to performance buyers.

Fisker was there and after asking about noise makers for the blind, one of the booth workers said, "Oh, the synthetic roar." (Only I had trouble understanding her accent.) Eventually they brought over the young lady who presented at the NHTSA hearing. She pointed to the speakers built into the bumpers, a pair at the front and the rear that come on at speeds of 0-30 mph. I asked if they could play it but they weren't setup to do that at the show. I got the impression they see the noise generators as something to replicate 'pony car' noise for buyers of the $90,000 hybrid cars.

The Denso booth showed their lane following, adaptive cruise control system. It uses both a camera and radar together so it can also read traffic signs and identify pedestrians. This approach works for all pedestrians, the 4,700 annual deaths, not just the 5 blind fatalities each year. It is an option in the new, 2010 Prius and one I am likely to order. So far, we don't know the price.

I also visited the Volvo booth and they have just a radar based, pedestrian, accident avoidance system. Theirs will apply the brakes to avoid an accident. Again, it is not specific to just the blind but all pedestrians.

The rest of my report is mostly text and photos of the engineering cutaways. It will take a while before I get more descriptive text. Many times I use high resolution photos that I can study later to find details that were not obvious in the beginning. Certainly you are welcome to it:
http://hiwaay.net/~bzwilson/prius/pri_2010.html

Bob Wilson

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