The Surprising Science Behind BMW's 'Emotional' EV Sounds

The way your car sounds may be as important as how it drives

BMW’s Neue Klasse vehicles are set to be a massive leap forward in interior and exterior design, and a landmark moment in the company’s push toward full electrification. This “new class” of vehicles may also evoke a new emotion from drivers. BMW has enlisted a team of sound engineers to curate how its EVs should sound, and the automaker hopes this approach will create a more emotional connection for drivers.

Saying its efforts break “genuinely new ground,” BMW’s team of engineers has created a soundscape of 43 “sound signals” for both its Personal Mode and Sport Mode settings in Neue Klasse vehicles equipped with Operating System X. The sound platform, dubbed HypersonX, will evolve its sounds based on the driving situation, which will supposedly “emotional interaction” between driver and vehicle.

How BMW’s sound engineers created the sound of EVs

Along with Operating System X, BMW crafted a new control unit for Neue Klasse vehicles, melding hardware and software to create an in-car environment that the automaker believes is perfectly acoustically tuned. "The unique sound spectrum of HypersonX plays a major role in giving a Neue Klasse model its own highly distinctive character acoustically. Through our focus on precision, warmth, and lightness, we can create a direct emotional connection between the driver and their vehicle," says Renzo Vitale, Creative Director of Sound Design BMW Group.

BMW took inspiration from nature and “structures from the worlds of art and science” for HypersonX. The company also retained some familiar sounds from existing BMWs, seemingly to engage users who have become accustomed to those sound prompts. With its new acoustic tuning, BMW believes its sounds have more depth, “color,” and precision. The new control unit is credited with much of the added range that HypersonX has, but the automaker says spatial modulation in the cars also helps.

BMW created over nine million sounds based on the company’s “sound DNA” via an algorithm to create its distinct soundscape. Those nine million sounds were filtered in the BMW Sound Design Studio with the intent that the results would create a multi-dimensional acoustic environment for drivers.

How HypersonX works

BMW is light on details, but is keen to note that it wants the driving experience to be pleasant and evoke a sense of well-being. It will prioritize middle and low-frequency tones, and the automaker suggests HypersonX will work in conjunction with in-car lighting and the car’s interior design elements. The end result should be a holistic driving experience that elicits a calm, composed performance from the driver and promotes a soothing environment for passengers.

BMW Sound Studio employees also contributed their voices to the experience. The choir’s songs were dissected, with isolated tones meant to evoke a sense of empathy utilized for HypersonX. BMW claims this will help create a more personalized and familiar experience, as nothing can quite replicate the sound of a human voice.

Final thoughts

Anyone who has driven a BMW EV knows its distinct tones add to the vehicle's personality. To its credit, BMW is perhaps the only manufacturer devoting so much effort to how an EV should sound—and that’s a brilliant move. Without an engine evoking an emotional response, the only path forward is to create a digital soundscape that is both familiar and bespoke to the car it’s in.