2012 Prius v - Any Way to Turn Low Speed Sound Emitter OFF?

Now that you know where the speaker is, you could unplug it to disable it. Or, there are some other options:

1) Wire in a switch to manually disable the VPNS speaker. This can be mounted on the dash. After you leave, you can turn on the VPNS speaker.

2) Same as #1 above except wire in a delay relay instead of a manual switch. I got one on eBay that can delay turning on a 12V accessory from 3 sec to 130 seconds after power is applied to the relay. The eBay seller had delay relays with other delay times as well, some with much longer times, in case you don't think 2 minutes gives you enough time to leave after turning on the ignition.

The advantage to option 2 is you don't have to remember to do anything, it will prevent the VPNS speaker from working automatically everytime the car is started for the set delay time. FYI, the delay time is adjustable, but not very precise on these, you have to get one with the range you want/need.

Edit: Here's a link to the timer relay I purchased: Delay relay it comes from Bulgaria, so it might take a little over a week to get to you. So you might want to pull the speaker connector off while you're waiting for it.

SCH-I535

 

Have you considered the other alternative? Place a white noise generator in the baby's room at a low setting but high enough that the baby can't hear the car. I lived on a busy street when my kids were small, and it worked wonders!

Bill

 

That's a great idea! You don't have to limit yourself to white noise: you could get one that has ocean surf, or a babbling brook, or soft rain. My wife and I saw multiple versions of these at Bed, Bath, and Beyond a couple of months ago. You could certainly find them on Amazon, too.

 

Lawyer to car owner: My client says he couldn't hear your car. The car is supposed to make sounds. Did you do anything to disable it?

Car owner: I hear my checkbook emptying.

 

As Mikefocke points out, you may want to consider a manual switch to make sure you have it enabled at other times.

I will note that I used to work at UCSB, and they have several of the electric carts driving around. One of the issues on a busy campus like that, is that people often times do not 'hear' the electric motor of a cart, and often times, it has been mentioned to me that cart drivers have to be EXTRA careful when driving on the campus near pedestrian students.

Another thing to note, most pedestrians are also 'distracted' with their phones, tablets and music in general that they will not notice or pay attention enough to you without some distinctive noise.

On a flipside note, I believe the Volt lacks the 'low speed' noise maker and don't believe the Leaf has one either.

 

AFAIK, the Volt nor do any Teslas (Model S and Roadster) don't have them.

As for Leaf, you are definitely wrong. ALL production Leafs have them. The '11 Leafs had a switch on the dash to disable it. The switch was removed on '12+ Leafs. The noise can be heard at Nissan Leaf Noisemaker--truely disgusting noise | PriusChat. There is a video published by Nissan about the making of the sound, the blind groups they consulted with, etc. I can dig it up, if you care.

I've driven Leafs w/o the noisemaker in late 2010 during one of the Leaf drive tour events. But, the car hadn't gone on sale yet so those were likely pre-production units.

 

At the time I purchased my Prius v, I was curious about the Volt and went for a test drive. I inquired about the low speed noise maker and according to the Chevy guy, it was a manual switch on it at the time.

 

AFAIK, Volt has no passive noisemaker. They I believe still only have it where pulling back on the turn signal stalk lets out a few short barks of the horn.

 

LOL! You can get a much genteeler response with any Prius by depressing the brake and punching the gas pedal to make the engine start for a few seconds. Probably not a recommended practice, but the engine noise is immediately understandable to anyone outside.

 

I live in Buffalo NY where they salt the roads. If I left any electrical connectors unmated they would corode. I would try duck tape around the speaker to knock it down a few dB.

It would be cool if you could customize the sound. I'm thinking squeaky fan belt with a touch of loud muffler, or maybe a nice Nine Inch Nails track.

 

How often does that work for you?

With our 2010 regular Prius (and cooler clime), I've got maybe a 1 in 10 chance of EV working as advertised, if I press it with a cold engine. I really don't bother with it, unless I'm hoping to back the car out into the driveway for a wash, or something similar.

 

Is there a difference? (kidding, kidding)

 

Man the ducks I know are much louder than my Prius

 

A white noise generator on a low setting in the room where someone is sleeping does wonders. Place it near the window or door closest to the source of the noise. My wife and I use one to drown out the gamers at the other end of our house while we sleep.

Bill the Engineer