Abstract
The noise and the sound of passenger cars have been dominated by the characteristic of the combustion engine for a long time. But now there is a change: Electric motors are getting more powerful not only attending but also substituting the combustion engine. But not only the acoustic of the electric powertrain is important for passenger cars. Missing the covering sound of the combustion engine, electric powered units for power steering, brake booster, air conditioning, etc. are getting more and more relevant for the sound in several operating conditions and the acoustics of these cars is totally different from the cars we use today. The technical challenges are numerous and complex: What noise level is acceptable and which sound is expected from passengers in the car and the pedestrians in the street? The balanced optimum is the target for Daimler’s NVH engineers: quiet, comfortable, characteristic, and a powerful feedback. And sound-design - interior and exterior - is the task. Experience from the current electric cars A-Class, Smart, Vito and B-Class FuelCell is the basis for the acoustics of the next vehicle generation: Mercedes-Benz BlueZero – the modular concept in E-Mobility.