Mikko OrispääNov 13, 2023
Prof. Catherine Flick

My 1 year old son has just started making noises when he plays with cars. He doesn’t say “brrrrm” or similar, he says “eeeee”. We own electric cars.

Think of it, a future where cars, buses, trucks, tractors go “eeeee” instead of “brrrrrm” in the minds of children.

#ElectricVehicles

Nov 12, 2023 at 11:38pmWeb
Show threadProf. Catherine FlickNov 13, 2023
So the responses to this are interesting! Some “kids are cute”, some “yay moving away from fossil fuels” and then some real bah humbug “cars are still terrible regardless, boo” responses that seem to think telling me this will help somehow?? Ah well. When there’s more than 2 buses a day to my rural village let me know ok
Show threadMagnus AhltorpNov 13, 2023

@CatherineFlick I’m sorry that your government considers “15-minute” to be hate speech.

https://www.theguardian.com/cities/2023/oct/07/15-minute-cities-rishi-sunak-tories-conspiracy-theory

‘This is political expediency’: how the Tories turned on 15-minute cities

Party appears to have embraced conspiracy theory that the greener, healthier, more sustainable way of life is a ‘sinister’ attack on freedom

The Guardian
Show threadTeflonTroutNov 13, 2023

@CatherineFlick Yeah, we all know cars are far from ideal, but are a necessity for many of us. Electric bikes are exploding in popularity even in my backwater dumbfuckheap of a town; I'd like to see that trend continue.

When my lovely little Ford Cmax (average mpg this tank: 37.8mpg) finally turns its last revolution, I'd love to get an electric runabout like a Chevy Volt or Bolt, or maybe even a 2 seater quad bike with electric assist.

Show threadYvanNov 13, 2023

@CatherineFlick I reckon it's pretty cool. Makes you think about the things you grew up with and have embedded in your thinking that actually make no sense now. Modem dialling is a classic of our generation I guess. Physical bells (phones, door chimes, etc). And things that are gradually fading like ICE vehicles (almost all the taxis in central Cambridge are electric now), lawnmowers, whipper snippers...

I still can't help but like the growl of a big V8 though (but don't want to own one).

Show threadYvanNov 13, 2023
@CatherineFlick ah, dot matrix printers! The sound of a CRT degaussing. Coins dropping into a payphone or vending machine. Change jingling in your pocket (I really don't miss it, always hated the stuff.) Machines that didn't keep you up at night with unnecessarily bright blinking blue LEDs. Devices you could turn on and not have to wait for them to "boot" and make a little noise to tell you they're ready. Almost getting run over by idiots on silent "GoPuff" and "Just Eat" e-mopeds every day. 😅
Show threadNiceMicroNov 19, 2023
@CatherineFlick to be frank, "think telling me this will help somehow" is not the standard by anyone posts on social media.
Show threadShunraNov 12, 2023
@CatherineFlick reminds me of my son’s VERY perplexed expression when I sang him a song about clocks going “tick-tock”.
Show threadAllan ChowNov 13, 2023
@CatherineFlick those are the sounds of the gremlins that pedal on the inside.
Show threadMatt HodgkinsonNov 13, 2023
@CatherineFlick Trains will always go choo choo.
Show threadAmy (she/her/hers)Nov 13, 2023
@CatherineFlick maybe even the "shshshsh" of some lighter-engine public transit (LRT/trams/trolleys) and bikes...
Show threadShark AttakNov 13, 2023
@CatherineFlick
I don't wanna know how the sons of those who like "rolling coal" act instead..
Show threadTeflonTroutNov 13, 2023
@SharkAttak @CatherineFlick They run their matchbox monster trucks over other cars. I'm only about 75% joking
Show threadJamie Hamel-SmithNov 13, 2023
@CatherineFlick I love this! I too love the electric whine of newer cars. In IMSA racing in the US the top class of cars are now hybrids and some of them launch from the pits on electric only; it’s the coolest to see them start on electric and then explode into action: https://youtu.be/fPV6POyNMYk?t=44
One Cool Thing About IMSA's Cars: The Sound of Cadillac's EV Launches

YouTube
Show threadChris 🤩 ReinbotheNov 13, 2023
@jamiehs @CatherineFlick So that is why it’s called Formula eeeeee
Show threadJamie Hamel-SmithNov 13, 2023
@phneutral @CatherineFlick hehe, you joke, but we sim race an electric prototype from Porsche and the Discord where we coordinate is literally called that 🤣
Show threadShadSterlingNov 13, 2023
@CatherineFlick like the subway!
Show threadmorriNov 13, 2023
@ShadSterling @CatherineFlick my kid as a toddler. oerfectly coying the sound of the incoming and outgoing s-bahn deewwwwwwweeeeeeeeeeewoo neeeeeeeeeeeeehiiiiiiiiii
Show threadargonautNov 13, 2023
@CatherineFlick @lisamelton
Right back to my childhood, and into that past’s future, when spaceships went “eeeee”… 🤩
Show threadPhil ReesNov 13, 2023
@CatherineFlick I'm holding out for "Whuuummmuuummmumum! Pshaaaaaaaaaaaw!!!"
Show threadElisabethNov 13, 2023
@CatherineFlick
It's not the big city which is noisy. It are the cars within on fossile fuel that are making most of the noise.
Show threadAndrej ShaduraNov 15, 2023
@englram, it's the cars within that are making most of the noise. All cars are noisy and produce pollution, regardless of traction. Most noise over a certain speed (40+ IIRC) comes from the tyres.
Show threadIvan Sagalaev Nov 13, 2023
@CatherineFlick on the other hand, cars in movies still make a squealing brake noise when they just normally stop, even though they haven't been doing that in reality for decades. And some software still uses the floppy disk metaphor for "save" :-)
Show threadBadriNov 13, 2023
@CatherineFlick gosh, who would have thought we'd be witnessing the evolution of onomatopoeia? 😮
Show threadKai KlostermannNov 13, 2023
@CatherineFlick My 1yo son's vehicles sound like they have 1000 PS and were forged in the fires of mount doom.
Show threadSong Gao Nov 13, 2023
@CatherineFlick our 2.5yo always “charges” his toy cars and never fuels them. His thinks gas stations are just for car washes. But he does fuel his trains which is a sad reflection of the lack of good train infrastructure in the US
Show threadKo-Fan Chen 陳克帆Nov 13, 2023
@CatherineFlick my 3yo turn of her "imaginery phone" with 'boop!' finger tapping gesture 🫵
Show threadIan SudberyNov 13, 2023
@CatherineFlick my friends 3yo loves to play at shops (sometimes it's a pharmacy, sometimes a post office, sometimes a fish and chip shop or ice cream shop). When it it comes time to pay, this is done by putting a flat palm on the counter and going "beep" - to them contactless is just how money works.
Show threadAlexander Sosedkin Nov 13, 2023
@CatherineFlick imagine a future that's not normalizing cars
Show threadJustin MacleodNov 13, 2023
@CatherineFlick the reason to do that will be awesome. I do think brrrm noises are cool though and will miss them!
Show threadRalfNov 13, 2023
@CatherineFlick @azrael2k Well, electric cars are still „cars“ that take away space from bikes and pedestrians in our crowded cities. How about „ssssss“ as sound from bikes or „taptap“ from people walking as real improvements… 😉
Show threadNik | Klampfradler 🎸🚲Nov 13, 2023
@CatherineFlick Think of a future where children don't think cars were toys.
Show threadxs4me2Nov 13, 2023

@CatherineFlick

The future is change!

Show threadKim BielbyNov 13, 2023
@CatherineFlick I think that is fantastic!
Show threadDavid JašaNov 13, 2023
@CatherineFlick for some reason, even people who grew up with these vehicles, manage only seldom to reproduce their propulsion sound range. 😂 https://youtu.be/f4BBvrMvT_A
Celý okruh historickým trolejbusem Škoda 9Tr evč. 323

YouTube
Show threadGreenSkyOverMe (Monika)Nov 13, 2023
@CatherineFlick „Aaah don’t touch the lamp it’s hot. Oh wait, it’s cold. And no hot bulbs have been sold since 1 year before your birth.“
Show threadGroßStadtPflanze Nov 13, 2023
@CatherineFlick I was with friends some weeks ago who have a three-year-old child. They have a car but ride bikes more. The child brought some of his vehicles. All with four wheels. I asked it if it didn't have a toy bike. No. Yesterday the mother wrote to me that she had tried to buy toy bikes for very small children. There are none except from Playmobil. And she doesn't like Playmobil. I wish for a world where children play with bicycles! With or without an electric motor.
Show threadCorinnaBalkowNov 13, 2023

@exil_inselette @CatherineFlick Found a site where you can get cool Bikes as toys
https://www.cargoli.de/

Also love that kids are making new noices. Mine used to talk to their hand before they realized we hold a phone in our hand.

We once asked our kid if they would hear us if we watch some tv late a night. they just went "boo boom" (like Netflix starting...)

Cargoli - Lastenräder aus Holz als Spielzeug und Merchandising-Artikel

Show threadGabriele Svelto [moved]Nov 13, 2023
@CatherineFlick but somehow trains still go chuff chuff
Show threadBudgetDuurzaamNov 13, 2023
@CatherineFlick 10 years ago, my son already played with electric trains… even did I, 50 years ago.#carsKill #thinkOfAFuture
Show threadSteven HeywoodNov 13, 2023
@CatherineFlick
I suspect it'll take a while. Police cars and ambulances speeding past buses all sirens blaring are still called: "Nee-naws."
Show threadBeeCycling has movedNov 13, 2023
@CatherineFlick What strikes me most when I'm on the local electric bus is the silence when it's stationary at bus stops or traffic lights. It's positively eerie in comparison to the noise of an idling internal combustion engine.
Show threadDr David MillsNov 13, 2023

@CatherineFlick There's a very short story by China Mieville that touches on something similar "The Rules"

https://www.tor.com/2015/08/04/book-reviews-three-moments-of-an-explosion-stories-by-china-mieville/

Exploring New Worlds: Three Moments of an Explosion by China Miéville

Short story collections can be divisive for an author’s fans. For some people, I imagine the feeling is comparable to waiting for your favorite band to put out a new full-length album and ins…

Tor.com
Show threadsheislaurenceNov 13, 2023
@CatherineFlick that is literally the script of an electric car ad from about 6 years ago? I think it was Renault.
Show threadLudibriumventisNov 13, 2023
@CatherineFlick it reminds me of the time that I was playing telephone with my friends toddler and when I said ring ring instead of answering with the pinky and thumb handset motion, she swiped her palm and held it to her face.
Show threadRealGene ☣️Nov 13, 2023

@CatherineFlick
My neighbors' Hyundai Ioniq 5 EV makes a flying saucer "whooo".

This week I will put the studded snow tires on my car, so it will just make the sound of walking on broken glass.

Show threadJohnathan CorganNov 13, 2023

@CatherineFlick This reminds of when (a long time ago) my young niece made a styrofoam replica of a camera for some school project. It was great, but we could not figure out what one square hole was.

"That's the USB port, dummy!"😂

Show threaddieterjosefNov 13, 2023
@CatherineFlick Most kids when playing a locomotive still sound rather like an old black steam engined one, not like a Diesel or electric train. Maybe your kid will change when he sees a sports car with a more interesting sounding combustion engine. Or he will find it too loud and noisy, like myself when some young man tries to show off his car on the street.
Show threadlaurentNov 13, 2023
@CatherineFlick
Ah, it took way less time than I thought! Glad to hear :)
https://twitter.com/lobau/status/747836955136667648?s=20
Laurent Baumann on X

Do you think in 20 years kids playing with little car toys won't know what "vroom vroom" means?

X (formerly Twitter)
Show threadBoogiechild😊Nov 13, 2023
@CatherineFlick Awe!
Show threadPat ReynoldsNov 13, 2023
@CatherineFlick
Personally, I want a future where cars go trrktrrktrrrk - the sound made by a bicycle (a Chopper for preference) fitted with a clicker (a plastic disk in the spokes, given away in a comic - ?Beano).
Electric cars are a menace for people with sight loss.
Our next car will be electric, and I will fit it with a clicker, if I can find one. Or turn the radio up and wind down the windows ...
Show threadC.Suthorn Nov 14, 2023

@CatherineFlick

@SheDrivesMobility

Show threadDan Drake 🦆Nov 14, 2023

@CatherineFlick also think about how, as cars and trucks get more quiet, the sound of a city will change. We've grown up learning that the natural sound of a busy city is...mostly related to the sound of internal combustion vehicles. Think about what our children's generation will unconsciously think of as the sound of a city -- more "eeeee" sounds from electric vehicles, and also perhaps...more sounds of nature and of people!

(There's a rather gross-er example of this: as bars and taverns started to ban indoor smoking, the smell of cigarette smoke in those places went away, and we learned that, in some sense, the "natural smell" of a bar or tavern was...that of urinal cakes! Which I guess is better than the smell of cigarette smoke...)

Show threadAndreas, DJ3EI, he/himNov 16, 2023

When I was a primary school kid, I could tell vehicle brand by engine noise. The following conversation made it into our family annals: "I hear a car, maybe that's aunt Käte coming." - "No way, grandpa. She has a beetle and that was an Opel."

Some almost 60 years later, car noise is mostly tire noise.

@ddrake @CatherineFlick

Show threadCorsacNov 15, 2023
@CatherineFlick Children still do « Tchou tchou » when imitating trains so I'm not so sure about that.
Show threadEin PhilosophikerDec 4, 2023
@CatherineFlick or they finally play with trains again
Show threadDaniel DurransJan 5, 2024
@CatherineFlick @hobbitswife I wonder if I could make my EV sound like Spongebob Squarepants walking along.
Show threadtextcontainerJan 7, 2024
@CatherineFlick <3✨