At Lexus and Toyota you will soon be able to download your engine sound

An electric car has to make noise when driving at walking pace, which is mandatory, but in general you can hardly hear anything while driving. That’s why Lexus and Toyota want to do something about it.

To enhance the experience, there are already several electric vehicles with a soundtrack. For example the Abarth 500e, the BMW i4, the Mini Cooper and the Porsche Taycan. But Lexus and Toyota have something else in mind.

Download sound in Toyota

In the future, you will be able to download your favorite engine sound via the car’s infotainment system, a spokesman told us, although he did not mention the year yet.

The concrete implementation of the plan is still speculation. Can you soon make your electric Lexus or Toyota sound like a naturally aspirated inline-six, a twin-turbo V8, or a big V12?

Is it perhaps possible to opt for historical sounds, such as those of the Toyota TS010, Celica GT-Four and Supra Super GT from the early 90s? That would be cool!

It is more likely that all sorts of futuristic sounds will be composed. Hans Zimmer, known for his film music, did this for BMW, for example.

Lexus wants to go even further

At Lexus they want to go even further. A technician told us that they are also working on a way to download driving characteristics via an online shop.

We don’t know exactly how this works, but we can imagine that it involves adjustments to the springs, dampers and steering. Quite an interesting idea.

Manual transmission for electric cars

Lexus and Toyota are obviously trying to gain experience in electromobility. That’s why they’re working on a “manual transmission” for electric vehicles. One with a shifter, clutch pedal and fake gears.

Because an electric car obviously doesn’t need a box. So everything has to be simulated. And Lexus and Toyota want to go very far. It should even be possible to have an EV stand.