One of the loveliest things about electric and hybrid vehicles is that they're fairly silent, unlike their tailpipe emissions polluting internal combustion engine counterparts that roar loudly as they heat up the planet by explosively burning fossil fuels.
Too silent in fact, with people not always able to hear a battery-powered vehicle approaching, putting individuals at risk of accidents.
Across the ditch, the Assistant Minister for Infrastructure and Transport, Carol Brown, recently announced that quiet cars, trucks and buses travelling at low speed will have to be equipped with Acoustic Vehicle Alerting Systems (AVAS).
Australian Design Rules (ADRs) will require AVAS for electric, hybrid and hydrogen fuel cell cars from November 2025.
AVAS will be coming to New Zealand as well.
"The Minister of Transport will be announcing his priorities for road safety later this year," a Ministry of Transport spokesperson told interest.co.nz.
"This will include a new set of objectives and intended actions for road safety that will focus on safer roads, safer drivers and safer vehicles," the spokesperson added.
In fact, both Australia and New Zealand are latecomers to the AVAS party. In Europe, AVAS has been mandatory for EVs and hybrids since July 1, 2019, generating sound up to 20 km/h and while the vehicle is reversing.
Roughly 80% of New Zealand-new light vehicles are made to comply with ADRs, and the rest follow EU standards. By November next year, almost all NZ-new vehicles captured by the requirements are expected to have AVAS.
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