I think this is a case of some misguided product managers (and since German car companies are known to be huge bureacracies - no wonder). It seems like there is a great important safety aspect to it - that first you can hear that the vehicle is moving (there is an audio cue), and second is the affordance that you pressing on the accelerator has an effect (that the accelerator/electronics is not broken) - idem for braking.
Interestingly enough, railway engines had this problem solved a number of decades ago when they started using mechanical speedometers based on a clock. When the vehicle would start moving, the speedometer would start ticking. The faster you go the faster the ticking. Seems like electric cars need something similar (it does seem like a very useful safety feature to be honest).
> When the vehicle would start moving, the speedometer would start ticking. The faster you go the faster the ticking. Seems like electric cars need something similar
This would effectively prevent many people from listening to music in the car. It would not be tolerated.
Which brings up the point that people very frequently choose to drown out the engine noise. That obviously limits how useful the engine noise can be, though of course it isn't very useful anyway. You cannot fail to sense that the car is moving if your eyes are open. You cannot fail to sense whether the brakes are working even if your eyes are closed.
No, these are regulations for the blind. Laws, mind you. For a reason. So the blind don't walk out in front of a car. I agree with these laws. That being said, the noise should NOT be heard inside the car.
> Hotter take: horns should be louder inside cars than they are on the outside
I don't care if it is equal volume or a little taser zap when exceeding some threshold, but a sacrifice must be paid to the gods of annoyance in order to restore balance.
Interestingly enough, railway engines had this problem solved a number of decades ago when they started using mechanical speedometers based on a clock. When the vehicle would start moving, the speedometer would start ticking. The faster you go the faster the ticking. Seems like electric cars need something similar (it does seem like a very useful safety feature to be honest).