Is the Tesla Model 3 noisy on the highway? [WE BELIEVE]

The website Autocentrum.pl published a review of Tesla Model 3, which showed that the car is not suitable for driving on the highway due to the noise in the cabin at a speed of 140 km / h. We decided to estimate how realistic this is based on records published on YouTube.

Table of contents

• Noise in the interior of Tesla Model 3
  • No combustion engine noise = different ear (and hearing aid microphone) sensitivity
    • Editorial help www.elektrowoz.pl

We've watched dozens of YouTube videos for ratings. We found the most representative film on the eric susch channel, in which the recording is not disturbed by music, but uses ordinary human speech. However, before we dwell on this, a few words about the physiology of hearing.

These are: our ears can adjust their sensitivity. The easiest way to notice this is to turn on a channel of children's stories (better diction, no background effects) when cartoon characters talk to each other normally. When we suddenly turn down the volume a few steps, we will have the first 3-5 seconds impression speech is “too low”.

After this time, our ear becomes more sensitive, and speech becomes intelligible again - as if nothing had changed.

No combustion engine noise = different ear (and hearing aid microphone) sensitivity

How does it work in an electric car? Well, as we guide an electrician, the ear will gradually increase its sensitivity until it scales up to some dominant noise that will provide us with information about the environment. At low speeds, this will be the whistle of the inverter, at higher speeds, the noise of the tires on the road.

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This tire noise will quickly become dominant, and even unpleasant with increasing speed: we are accustomed to the engine noise coming through our ears and skin (vibration), while the dominant noise from the wheels is new to us. Just like any disturbing novelty, there will be a strange buzzing in the engine or too loud turbine operation.

After this lengthy introduction, let's move on to the essence (from 1:00):

The woman driving the car recalls that she looked at the speedometer and found that she was driving at 80 mph or 129 km / h. There is noise from tires and air in the background, but there are two tips to keep in mind:

• a woman unknowingly exceeded the speed limit on the highway, so she did not have enough reviews about the speed of the car - there was Too quiet,
• woman he raises his voice slightlybut this is normal speech with a slight hum, and not with a cry,
• even after taking a cut and a snapshot on the speedometer, it can be seen that the car is traveling at a speed of about 117,5 km / h.

A normal conversation is about 60 dB. In turn, the interior of a noisy restaurant and the interior of an internal combustion car - 70 dB. On this scale, it can be estimated that the noise inside [this] Tesla Model 3 at 117,5-129 km / h, visible on the film, is about 65-68 dB..

Compare these values ​​with the numbers obtained by Auto Bild. Good the quietest The 2013 car turned out to be a BMW 730d Blue Performance, in which the noise in the cabin at a speed of 130 km / h reached 62 decibels. In the Mercedes S400, it was already 66 decibels. As such, Tesla Model 3 is slightly louder than premium brands..

Unfortunately, the machine tested by AutoCentrum.pl was actually a little flexible (from 22:55):

The problem is widely discussed on American forums, and most of the problems were with the copies of the first months of production (that is, those that were tested above). Nowadays, it is sometimes available, so additional gaskets have already appeared on the market, with which you can close the gaps and soundproof the interior of the cabin.

Editorial help www.elektrowoz.pl

Car noise measurements using mobile apps are interesting, but they need to be approached at a certain distance. Smartphones, cameras and cameras constantly monitor microphone sensitivity, and each device does it a little differently. Therefore, if we do not have a calibrated decibel meter, it is better to supplement the test with a smartphone using an “on-ear” measurement, that is, assessing whether we speak normally or raise our voice while driving.

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