After years and years of doing the whole shebang in their supremacy to make cars as quiet as a dead fish, it seems somewhat backwards that we’re now talking about adding external speakers to hybrids in order to make them… louder. But that’s the current reality, and Toyota, the undisputed worldwide leader in hybrid vehicles (yeah Chevy your Volt is yet to be impressive), is leading the way in Japan with its Prius hatchback.

For about ¥12,600 ($150), Toyota will happily equip your Prius (if you’re in Japan) with an “Approaching Vehicle Audible System”. According to the giant Japanese automaker, the technology is “designed to meet new Japanese Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport, and Tourism guidelines for hybrid and other near-silent vehicles.” Expect the system to extend to other hybrids from Toyota and probably to countries outside Japan in time.

The onboard device automatically emits a synthesized sound of an electric motor when the Prius is operating as an electric vehicle at speeds up to approximately 25 km/h. The sound—aimed to alert but not annoy—rises and falls in pitch relative to the vehicle’s speed, thus helping indicate the vehicle’s proximity and movement.
Anyone interested in making their third-gen Prius sound like a prop from ‘Close Encounters of the Third Kind’ are encouraged to watch the Japanese-market video after the break. Now, Mr Toyota, can I have a V8-roaring-MIDI installed on my Prius, please?

SOURCE via Prius Chat