Vietnam proposes mandatory sound alerts for electric vehicles

The Vietnam Register proposed adding mandatory requirements for Acoustic Vehicle Alerting Systems (AVAS) on pure electric cars in a new draft of national technical standards.

This proposal follows similar regulations already established in Japan, the European Union, and the United States to help pedestrians identify approaching vehicles. AVAS technology uses external speakers to produce artificial sounds when a vehicle moves at low speeds or reverses.

These systems typically change the sound based on speed to help people nearby notice the car. The technology addresses a specific safety risk where electric engines operate almost silently at low speeds, making it difficult for pedestrians, especially those with visual impairments, to detect incoming traffic. Japan began addressing this issue in 2009 when the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism established a research group after requests from the Japan Federation of the Blind.

By 2010, the ministry issued guidelines for warning systems, and Nissan began including these alerts on the Leaf model. The European Union and the United States later adopted similar standards. The European Union requires AVAS for new hybrid and electric cars, while the United States National Highway Traffic Safety Administration mandated these alerts for vehicles produced from September 1, 2020.

International standards also exist, such as UN Regulation 138, which requires vehicles to emit sound between 0 and 20 km/h and when reversing. Research from the SINTEF Research Institute in Norway and studies in Shanghai show that environmental noise can affect the effectiveness of these alerts. High background noise can reduce the distance at which a pedestrian can detect a car, though high-frequency alert sounds tend to remain more audible in noisy conditions.