Lotus and Harman Kardon want to make sure EVs are just as loud as the gas-powered car roaring along in this picture.

Not surprised by it – but irritated.

Gas2.org is reporting that Lotus and Harman Kardon are working together to make sure EVs and PHEVs are just as noisy as our current gas cars.

Great, just when you began relishing a future with less noisy cars, someone steps in and ruins it.

And the whole thing about worrying about blind people not being able to hear an EV seems like a complete crock to me.

Two of the biggest sources of noise from a car are tire noise and wind noise.

And these aren’t going away anytime soon – though it would be great if they eventually did.

My take: Modern society has become so noisy that people have become afraid, deathly afraid, of quiet – with ‘quiet’ here meaning a world with a minimum of human-produced sounds.

Think about the folks who freak out without a radio, IPod, TV, etc. on all the time.

Or the folks who lose it when camping in the wilderness because it’s “too quiet” (or too dark).

Modern society has become so noisy that people have become afraid, deathly afraid, of quiet – with ‘quiet’ here meaning a world with a minimum of human-produced sounds.

Or the people who bring all their noisy gear with them into the woods – and impose it on the rest of us.

Yeah, I can hear it now – “shadd-up” you “elitist.”

I don’t see anything elitist about speaking up for less noise.

It’s just the desire to hear less of our modern-industrial human sounds, and more natural sounds.

It’s a shame we live in a world in which dominant ideology simplistically reduces any critique of the ways things are to “elitism” – but unfortunately it’s oh so predictable too.

It’s far easier to shout someone down as an “elitist” than to actually grapple with the ideas he’s advancing.

As for the Lotus-Harman Kardon noise-makers? Hope they don’t take off along with EVs and PHEVs – but I have a sinking feeling they will…

• Do EVs really have to be just as noisy?
• EV drivers add voices to noise and safety debate