Removing low speed proximity sound

[solarjackpv]

I found a way to remove the proximity sound to make the rav stealth.

There is a speaker on the bottom right of the 12v battery with a grey plug. Simply unplug and it's done.

 

[bruin nut]

I found a way to remove the proximity sound to make the rav stealth.

There is a speaker on the bottom right of the 12v battery with a grey plug. Simply unplug and it's done.

I've looked and found plenty of plugs. Could you post a couple of shots so I don't unplug something necessary?

 

[mark_rivers19]

I found a way to remove the proximity sound to make the rav stealth.

There is a speaker on the bottom right of the 12v battery with a grey plug. Simply unplug and it's done.

I ask every member to think about this for a second.
The VPNS was put in place to alert pedestrians, small children, the blind etc.
i know it can be annoying, but it's suppose to be Heard by people around you.

Removing a safety feature like this is dangerous and possibly a legal issue when you get sued for running over someone, even if it's the pedestrian's fault

 

[banshee08]

I agree with mark rivers, remove the vpns at your own risk. I find the VPNS too quiet in open spaces and am looking into installing a reverse beeper on a switch for when I am in parking lots. People in the San Gabriel Valley do not pay attention in parking lots and usually never see or hear me coming.

 

[mark_rivers19]

I agree with mark rivers, remove the vpns at your own risk. I find the VPNS too quiet in open spaces and am looking into installing a reverse beeper on a switch for when I am in parking lots. People in the San Gabriel Valley do not pay attention in parking lots and usually never see or hear me coming.

Please update us if you find a good reverse beeper.

MY problem in most parking lots, ( Costco, Walmart, Target etc) is that people are too busy texting/ pushing their grocery carts or simply conversing with someone.
Then you have the occasional parents who let their kids run in the parking lot at will.

 

[crxpilot]

I found a way to remove the proximity sound to make the rav stealth.

There is a speaker on the bottom right of the 12v battery with a grey plug. Simply unplug and it's done.

I ask every member to think about this for a second.
The VPNS was put in place to alert pedestrians, small children, the blind etc.
i know it can be annoying, but it's suppose to be Heard by people around you.

Removing a safety feature like this is dangerous and possibly a legal issue when you get sued for running over someone, even if it's the pedestrian's fault

I say GO FOR IT! This is the U.S. of A. Right?

 

[AvLegends]

People in the San Gabriel Valley do not pay attention in parking lots and usually never see or hear me coming.

People here in Ventura County don't pay attention as well. You really have to be cautious when driving an EV as nobody hears you coming.

I think the VPN is just DUMB and doesn't work at all to warn people... not even in the Prius. At least it has a gas engine to warn people, LOL!

Do other EV's such as the Leaf or Tesla have some sort of VPN?

The only time I hear my VPN is when I pull in and out of the garage. It is our job when driving these cars as to be aware as to who's around us. The VPN does nothing! What is badly needed is a reverse beep as mentioned earlier. Just my .02.

 

[davewill]

... Do other EV's such as the Leaf or Tesla have some sort of VPN?

The only time I hear my VPN is when I pull in and out of the garage. It is our job when driving these cars as to be aware as to who's around us. The VPN does nothing! What is badly needed is a reverse beep as mentioned earlier. Just my .02.

Not only do they, I'm pretty sure that as of this year or last, they are required equipment on new electric vehicles. My 2011 LEAF has a button to temporarily turn it off. Later models did away with it. I only push the button when backing out at home before 6AM. Otherwise I leave it on.

 

[tjka4231]

Here's more information about Electric Vehicle warning sounds from Wikipedia. Looks like it will be a requirement in the U.S. starting September 2014.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electric_vehicle_warning_sounds

 

[branstone]

I would agree that disabling it make you liable if you were to hit someone. Also it is for the blind people so they hear you !!!

 

[Khaihon]

I'm pretty sure in California, if you hit a pedestrian, you are liable in almost all cases regardless of whether or not the person hears the spaceship sound coming from your vehicle or not.

Do you really think "That granny should have heard the VPNS from my my car!" to really hold up in court?

 

[davewill]

... Do you really think "That granny should have heard the VPNS from my my car!" to really hold up in court?

More like the opposite: Someone steps out in front of your car in the parking lot, and they discover you disabled it. Boom! You're now 100% at fault instead of 50%.

 

[rayray]

Removing the pin or putting back takes less than 30 seconds ... Assuming all of the scenarios mentioned .. Why not just plug it back in if you are worried about after you hit someone ?

There are 4000+ EV's posted on http://evalbum.com, even if you take the main stream new EV's out .. Are you telling me all of them have a stupid HUM, and or they have been killing people by hitting them ?

If you are annoyed. unplug it ... And if you are unfortunate to hit someone, and you are worried, then plug it back in ... It will take less than 30 seconds, and I'm sure you can make a 1001 excuses on why you popped your hood open.

 

[andy966]

I would agree that disabling it make you liable if you were to hit someone. Also it is for the blind people so they hear you !!!

I don't think anyone should talk about liability unless they are a lawyer. Why would removing a beeping sound make me any more liable than if there was a beeping sound? That makes absolutely no sense.
"Your honor, my car was beeping so it isn't my fault that I hit the blind man while sexting with the blonde I met at Starbucks."

 

[andy966]

... Do you really think "That granny should have heard the VPNS from my my car!" to really hold up in court?

More like the opposite: Someone steps out in front of your car in the parking lot, and they discover you disabled it. Boom! You're now 100% at fault instead of 50%.

So are you saying that if I hit someone with a non-ev, it's only 50% my fault? Again, this makes no sense.

 

[davewill]

So are you saying that if I hit someone with a non-ev, it's only 50% my fault? Again, this makes no sense.

If he stepped out in front of your moving car he could be up to 100% at fault...until it's discovered that you disabled a relevant safety feature required by federal law. Just like if you decided that those airbag things were bogus and removed them, then an unsuspecting passenger died when he might have been saved.

 

[andy966]

So are you saying that if I hit someone with a non-ev, it's only 50% my fault? Again, this makes no sense.

If he stepped out in front of your moving car he could be up to 100% at fault...until it's discovered that you disabled a relevant safety feature required by federal law. Just like if you decided that those airbag things were bogus and removed them, then an unsuspecting passenger died when he might have been saved.

Ok, I can admit when I am wrong. I just looked up the law. It is a federal law now to have the sounds on the EV vehicles.

https://www.govtrack.us/congress/bills/111/s841#summary/libraryofcongress

I will leave that feature alone under protest. Hey, if it saves a life, it saves a life.

 

[yblaser]

The regulation is currently not in effect so there is no legal requirement that your RAV4 emit such a sound.

 

[DevinL]

On the LEAF I would usually use the button to disable the VSP because the sound annoyed me. Never had any issue.

The Focus Electric has no VSP/VPNS capability, Ford decided not to implement one because it was not required by law. The Volt only has the courtesy triple honk thing and before the Gen 3 Prius there were no noisemakers. My old Gen 2 Prius would almost always be in EV mode in parking lots and I never had an issue with anything.

I haven't heard of anyone being found liable for an accident due to the lack of noise a hybrid or EV makes so there's no reason to believe that disabling the VPNS would create such a condition. I'd also point out that some gas cars are now nearly as quiet (I've noticed some Lexus and Mercedes ICEs are practically silent in outdoor situations).

All that said I don't think I'd disable the VPNS on my RAV4 because it doesn't bother me as much as the VSP on the LEAF did. The only time I actually find VPNS on the RAV4 annoying is backing in and out of my garage because at such a low speed the VPNS starts and stops while maneuvering.

 

[4EVEREV]

I would agree that disabling it make you liable if you were to hit someone. Also it is for the blind people so they hear you !!!

Like a Prius right? And other hybrids that don't have it. The issue is not a noise device because the blind can hear the car above a crawl and at a crawl people can stop if they are not asleep at the wheel. The issue is people not paying attention if you look at it scientifically. I have more fools walk in front of me in my truck than any EV without a noise device in the last 10 years. Noise pollution for all with packs of noise makers on all the time.