• TikTok users are memeing the low speed warning sounds that modern EV and hybrid cars make.
• By law, all EVs and Hybrids must make noise under 19 mph, as of 2019.
• The meme seems to pick on Honda and Hyundai the most. 

If you’re terminally online or have kids, you’re probably familiar with TikTok and its poorly moderated clone, Instagram Reels. Perhaps it’s just a nice time suck, or brain-rot. But whatever it is, I generally enjoy all of the harmless memes and cooking videos. It’s a way to peer into the lives of people I don’t know and will never meet.

But, occasionally, my For You Page (FYP)—which I’ve intentionally tried to curate to not have car-related content to give me a reprieve from my day job—sometimes shows me car stuff anyway. And for the past few weeks, TikTokers have made memes of the sounds EVs make when they’re reversing or traveling at slow speeds.

Personally, I think it’s hilarious.

 

The meme format is simple. It could be a picture or video meant to imply the feeling of unexpectedly dying and ascending to heaven. Most of the videos use Hyundai or Honda’s warning sound (which on the Prologue, is also General Motors’ chime), both of which I would agree are pretty darn choral. And shockingly loud.

 

Just check out the comments. It’s full of users all riffing on the theme of heavenly ascension. There’s some grade-A comedy gold in the comments sections.

Photo by: TikTok

Humor aside, some users don’t know why EVs and hybrids make that noise while reversing. It’s actually the law.

Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards stipulate that hybrids and EVs must emit a sound when the car is in drive or neutral and at constant forward speeds of up to 19 mph. Also, the sound must always be emitted while in reverse.

This rule was made official in 2019, so that’s why the phenomenon of angelic-sounding Hondas may seem somewhat recent. Before then, hybrids in particular weren’t required to make any noise.

The standard is meant to make pedestrians safer, especially those who may be visually impaired. Electric motors are nearly silent, far quieter than the idling of a gas engine. With an audible sound, the likelihood of pedestrians accidentally getting backed over by an EV or hybrid driver not paying attention should drop.

Interestingly, the FMVSS is fairly strict on the sounds it allows brands to use. Each brand can only use one sound for their cars, and the sounds themselves can’t be altered or changed by the user. This is why the Honda CR-V and Accord Hybrid have the same sound. Automakers did petition the FMVSS for the potential for user-selected sound options, but it said no. 

With that in mind, I, for one, like the biblically accurate angel sounds that automakers have chosen to embrace. Electric cars aren’t internal combustion vehicles. It seems a little silly to try and make them sound like they are.

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