F-150 PowerBoost's Unique Reverse / Backup Alert Sound

[Hamboni]

Question is, is disabling it really a good option? If a kid does run out when you are backing up and was 100% their fault, will you be seen a criminal responsible and end up with a manslaughter charge because the speaker was unplugged?

I don't think that will ever happen, but just playing devils advocate

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[BHunted1]

Good point. It definitely comes from the engine bay.

Front driver side under bumper.

 

[diesel97]

Question is, is disabling it really a good option? If a kid does run out when you are backing up and was 100% their fault, will you be seen a criminal responsible and end up with a manslaughter charge because the speaker was unplugged?

I don't think that will ever happen, but just playing devils advocate

pretty sure if you back over a kid even with a beeper you would be in the wrong

 

[Whoosh]

There’s a legal requirement for some kind of noise being made. I just wish it wasn’t so lame.

Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard No. 141, Minimum Sound Requirements for Hybrid and Electric Vehicles
Warning sound devices were deemed necessary by some government regulators because vehicles operating in all-electric mode produce less noise than traditional combustion engine vehicles and can make it more difficult for pedestrians and cyclists (especially the blind or short-sighted) to be aware of their presence. NHTSA has decided to deny one petition request to change the crossover speed, which is the speed above which the pedestrian alert sound is allowed to turn off, from 30 kilometers per hour (km/h) to 20 km/h. The agency has determined that the available information on lowering the crossover speed does not warrant making that change.

 

[powerboost]

Replace beep with endless loop of "Baby Shark" or "It's a small world" from Disneyland....lol

 

[drcubanb]

Replace beep with endless loop of "Baby Shark" or "It's a small world" from Disneyland....lol

This is how you get my neighboors to shoot me. They already tease me because of the beeping. But Baby Shark on loop while I wait for my 4 yr old to buckle in will start a war.

 

[N2Wind]

I wonder if we can get something like this from this company?

https://evsoundsystem.com/ev-sounds/

 

[Mhubbardva1]

Third morning backing out of the garage at 4:30 am and the dinner discussion was how to turn it off. Everyone in the house sleeping could hear it. There is also a strange accelerating noise from the same speaker at low forward speeds. Got to go!!!

 

[xtraman122]

Third morning backing out of the garage at 4:30 am and the dinner discussion was how to turn it off. Everyone in the house sleeping could hear it. There is also a strange accelerating noise from the same speaker at low forward speeds. Got to go!!!

Like I keep saying, it's embarrassing... The "groaning" is the dumb fake engine sound, I believe it shuts off at 25mph, others have said 22mph I think. And that backup alarm, ugh... You'd think the groaning engine sound would be enough, I don't think the rules specify anything specific for reverse, just that EVs/hybrids have something audible. I plan on just trying to muffle it by stuffing foam etc in there like others have done.

 

[currybob]

Like I keep saying, it's embarrassing... The "groaning" is the dumb fake engine sound, I believe it shuts off at 25mph, others have said 22mph I think. And that backup alarm, ugh... You'd think the groaning engine sound would be enough, I don't think the rules specify anything specific for reverse, just that EVs/hybrids have something audible. I plan on just trying to muffle it by stuffing foam etc in there like others have done.

Stuffing foam over it won't help hardly at all. I taped some over it and that made almost no difference.

The vent is just there to project the sound I believe.

I unplugged it and you then get the error message every time you start the engine up. Best thing looks like you would have to plug it into a small broken speaker that the plug fits to keep the error message from happening.

But if that caused any kind of electrical issue the warranty would not cover it.

If you could take it all the way out and get to the inside of it and stuff foam against whatever is making the sound, then I think you would get what you are looking for. Looked like more trouble than I want to go through for now.

 

[xtraman122]

Stuffing foam over it won't help hardly at all. I taped some over it and that made almost no difference.

The vent is just there to project the sound I believe.

I unplugged it and you then get the error message every time you start the engine up. Best thing looks like you would have to plug it into a small broken speaker that the plug fits to keep the error message from happening.

But if that caused any kind of electrical issue the warranty would not cover it.

If you could take it all the way out and get to the inside of it and stuff foam against whatever is making the sound, then I think you would get what you are looking for. Looked like more trouble than I want to go through for now.

Yeah I reached the same conclusion when I saw how far they buried it. Maybe when I do my first oil change I’ll try and take it off to see if there’s any way to maybe muffle it a bit if I take it apart. There’s gotta be some way to “break” the speaker portion of it but still keep the circuit happy so no codes get thrown, and then if there ever was a question of warranty eligibility it would just appear as a broken speaker anyway and not look like you did something specific to void it.

 

[currybob]

Yeah I reached the same conclusion when I saw how far they buried it. Maybe when I do my first oil change I’ll try and take it off to see if there’s any way to maybe muffle it a bit if I take it apart. There’s gotta be some way to “break” the speaker portion of it but still keep the circuit happy so no codes get thrown, and then if there ever was a question of warranty eligibility it would just appear as a broken speaker anyway and not look like you did something specific to void it.

I agree, the issue is that sucker is really buried as you said. Looks like the damper would have to be removed to really get to it.

 

[F-150 Prius]

Third morning backing out of the garage at 4:30 am and the dinner discussion was how to turn it off. Everyone in the house sleeping could hear it. There is also a strange accelerating noise from the same speaker at low forward speeds. Got to go!!!

Agreed. There really should be an override. Pedestrians get run over by buses and ambulances … a bleep-bleep is just not saving souls. Leave it on by default, fine, but have a "mute" button.

 

[F-150 Prius]

Yeah I reached the same conclusion when I saw how far they buried it. Maybe when I do my first oil change I’ll try and take it off to see if there’s any way to maybe muffle it a bit if I take it apart. There’s gotta be some way to “break” the speaker portion of it but still keep the circuit happy so no codes get thrown, and then if there ever was a question of warranty eligibility it would just appear as a broken speaker anyway and not look like you did something specific to void it.

you could get an electrician to wire in a switch to create a "defeat" circuit with the same impedance as the speaker so the system could not detect an open circuit.

 

[F-150 Prius]

I was at a Tesla dealership recently and their cars all go "woo-woo" in a spaceship hovering sort of sound … equally obnoxious and utterly idiotically useless as a "safety" device. I know Telsa has software to allow the user to change the sound. I think just a simple "mute" button to press before slowing below whatever 10 mph limit or shifting to reverse … the driver should be allowed to take responsibility for not driving over the neighbor's dog instead of necessarily waking up everyone in the house just to roll out of the garage in the silence of the electric motor … it's just too absurd … (and yes, of course the solution is to back into the garage and drive out forwards in the early morning, but that's not the point.)

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