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Jaguar I-Pace EV has a new pedestrian warning sound: Listen to it here

Jaguar's production of its first electric car means it also has to deal with a problem everybody else has been trying to solve: noise, or rather, the lack thereof. People can hear an engine at low speeds when they're walking along a sidewalk. The same can't be said for silent-operating electric cars. We wrote about Chevrolet's latest solution to the noise problem a few weeks back, and now Jaguar is sharing what it came up with for the I-Pace. The noise it didn't use is almost more interesting than the one it did, though. Jag says its first iteration was meant to be spacecraft/UFO inspired, but apparently it was so convincing that people tended to look up at the sky instead of at the road. Engineers switched it to what seems like a pretty general hum sound for production. Take a listen yourself in the video above — you'll hear the noise at the 40-second mark, and a few other spots after that. The sound is emitted from a speaker behind the grille at speeds up to about 12 mph. It'll change in pitch and volume to correspond to the increasing or decreasing speed of the vehicle — it even changes tone when you shift into reverse to signal a change in direction. Jaguar says the noise is no longer needed at speeds above 12 mph because tire and wind noise become sufficient enough at that speed. Chevy turns the noise off on the Volt at about 20 mph, however, showing that manufacturers haven't really come to a consensus on what should be happening. A U.S. law that hasn't gone into effect yet will ask manufacturers to keep the noise at up to 18.6 mph, though. We happen to be partial to the jaguar growl heard right at the end of the video as a warning sound. That's how you make an entrance with a Jaguar. These kinds of systems are necessary to warn those who might be blind or visually impaired, but distracted walkers are a huge demographic of people needing a warning too. Everybody walks around with their head buried in a phone nowadays, making silent vehicles a hazard of our own habits. Jaguar says it specifically engineered the noise so that it doesn't intrude upon the cabin, so only pedestrians are bothered by the hum when slowly plodding through cities. Jaguar I-Pace pedestrian warning sound View 10 Photos Related Video: This content is hosted by a third party. To view it, please update your privacy preferences. Manage Settings. Green Jaguar Green Driving Technology Crossover SUV Electric Luxury pedestrian safety jaguar i-pace

Recharge Wrap-up: Jaguar's aluminum recycling, lithium demand rises

Jaguar Land Rover has recycled over 50 metric tons of aluminum over the past year. As Jaguar celebrates a year of sales of the XE – which makes use of recycled aluminum – its closed loop recycling program has prevented some 500,000 metric tons of CO2 emissions. The XE is the first car in Jaguar's REALCAR (short for REcycled ALuminium CAR) program, and the company says it has recycled an amount equal to almost 200,000 XE body shells. "Its success so far marks a significant step towards our goal of having up to 75 percent recycled aluminium content in our vehicle body structures by 2020," says Group Engineering Director Nick Rogers. Check out the video above, and read more from Jaguar. Electric vehicle manufacturers are putting a strain on lithium supplies. Since the metal is used in the batteries of most electric vehicles, demand is expected to grow by 8.8 percent a year through 2019. While Tesla has deals with natural resource companies Pure Energy Minerals and Bacanora Minerals, they won't be able to keep up with the automaker's goal of 500,000 EVs by 2020. Tesla, BYD, and other EV manufacturers are going to be competing for these resources, and new lithium firms will enter the market to compete for automakers' business. Read more in the press release or the blog post from Market Research. Connecticut's Department of Energy and Environmental Protection (DEEP) has announced a new funding opportunity for building public EV charging infrastructure. DEEP is accepting applications from private entities for awards of up to $10,000 for installing a public dual-head charger or two single-head chargers, for up to 17 new charging stations. It prefers proposals for underserved areas with major traffic, such as downtowns. Connecticut has a goal of putting 3.3 million EVs on the road by 2025. Read more in the notice from DEEP, or visit DEEP's website. Car clubs are responsible for the removal of about 25,000 cars from London roads. According to a new survey, every club car removes 10 private cars, as club members sell their own vehicles. The survey of 4,000 Londoners also shows that carsharing members drive an average of 750 fewer miles every year after joining. London is currently home to 186,000 car club members using 2,800 cars, while the UK's 220,000 club members use over 3,800 club cars. Also, many car clubs offer access to electric vehicles, which helps to further reduce emissions.

Ford's J Mays feels vindicated by Fusion reception

It's hard to think back now, but the same man overseeing the design of the 2013 Ford Fusion also presided over a rather lackluster period in Ford design, highlighted by vehicles like the Five Hundred and Freestyle. With the redesigned Fusion receiving high praise, J Mays tells Automotive News that he feels vindicated from criticisms suggesting he's not a daring enough designer.
When Mays took over as lead of design in 1997, he admits to having quite an ego ("My head would barely fit through the door some days. I've long since gotten over myself") and the workload to match. With the Blue Oval's portfolio full of premium brands like Aston Martin, Jaguar, Land Rover and Volvo at that point, along with the bread-and-butter Ford, Lincoln and Mercury models, Mays certainly had quite the challenge.
It was in the mid-2000s that Mays took over just the premium brands, and took on the new title of Chief Creative Officer. At the time, Mays endured some criticism for looking backwards to retro styling, rather than setting a new standard for American car design - criticism that Mays says he is free from with the all-new Fusion.