Recent comments from Porsche development driver Lars Kern have indicated that the German luxury car maker would not be using simulated combustion-powered sounds on its electric vehicles. This was despite the praise being received by the Hyundai Ioniq 5 N, a critically-acclaimed high-performance EV with simulated combustion-powered sounds . In a comment to Australian motoring publication Drive , Kern stated that Porsche actually looked into the idea of using simulated engine sounds at the idea stage, but the company never really built a prototype with a simulated gear shifter.
“We drove the Hyundai (Ioniq 5) N and had a look at it, and, obviously, there’s always people who think that’s a good idea and there’s always people I think it’s a bad idea. We came to the conclusion that that is not what we are looking for. We don’t try to make the electric car feel like a combustion engine, so that’s why we just didn’t follow up on that,” he noted.
The Porsche development driver also noted that simulating the performance of a combustion engine lowers the performance of an electric car. Apart from this, Porsche customers who wish to experience a vehicle with a stellar internal combustion engine could simply purchase one of the company’s combustion-powered cars. With this in mind, having an EV with simulated gear shifts did not really make much sense for a carmaker like Porsche.
“Obviously, we look into what the competition does, but our perspective on this is alway.