Nissan has produced a world-first lullaby for EVs in the absence of the sleep-inducing frequencies produced by internal combustion engines (ICE) that help get young children to fall asleep.
The Nissan Leaf ‘Dream Drive’ lullaby designed by Nissan engineers in collaboration with sound designer and sleep coach Tom Middleton blends Leaf sounds with frequencies produced by a humming combustion engine to get the required effect.
“Parents soon realise that taking a drive in the car or ‘dream driving’ is a great way to get a baby or young child to nod off,” parenting expert Elizabeth O’Shea says.
“But how interesting that it’s the sound frequencies of a combustion engine, rather than the movement, that helps children fall asleep. With the 100% electric Nissan Leaf, environmentally aware parents now have a simple, guilt-free solution to gently lull their little ones to sleep.”
About 51% of United Kingdom parents use ‘dream driving’ – the act of setting out in the car specifically to get a child to sleep – with 62% doing this once a week, Nissan says.
Parents spend an average of between 20 and 25 minutes on a ‘dream drive’ covering about eight kilometres. Not only do these trips produce additional carbon emissions (around 70kg of CO2 per family annually), but the annual fuel bill of all ‘dream driving’ UK parents exceeds 33.5 million pounds.
With the increasing switch to EVs (70% of parents want to be good environmental role models for their children), Nissan identified a challenge to ensure parents can still use the ‘dream drive’ technique without the carbon cost of a combustion engine.
Dream Drive comprises five three-minute tracks, the sounds similar to the frequencies in a string orchestra, generating a mixture of white, pink and brown noise – the three emitted by ICE but missing from the Leaf.
Recorded elements include keys, indicators, air conditioning, engine start up, interior material texture sounds, accelerating and decelerating, plus on the road live recordings.
Parents can connect their smartphone to their Leaf through Android Auto and Apple CarPlay, to enjoy the lullaby available on platforms like Apple Music, Spotify, SoundCloud, YouTube and Deezer.
Listen to Dream Drive.
