Contribution
Evaluation of the Sound Quality for Battery Electric Vehicles as a Function of Psychoacoustic Metrices
* Presenting author
Abstract:
Battery electric vehicles (BEVs) are characterized by less complex driving noise than vehicles with combustion engines and therefore the associated acoustic masking effects in the vehicle interior are reduced. Hence, drive-related whining noises from the electric motor and transmission of BEVs are more pronounced. Due to their tonal character, the whining noise components are likely to contribute to an unpleasant overall sound perception. The aim of this study is to investigate the relationship between the qualitative auditory impression in the vehicle interior of BEVs and psychoacoustic variables (loudness, timbre, and tonality). Therefore, listening tests for semi-synthetic sound samples of BEVs interior noise were performed to rate quality, loudness, timbre, and tonality. The audio samples were binaural recordings of different BEVs with varying levels of both drive and ambient noise. Based on these findings, concepts for evaluating the powertrain-induced noise of BEVs in vehicle interiors are developed. First, it is investigated to which extend the perceived sound quality is connected to ratings for loudness, timbre, and tonality. In a next step, the outcomes of the listening tests are compared with predictions from different psychoacoustic models.