Holiday Season

Carol of the (Alert) Bells: 2020 Nissan Leaf's sound effects create their own Christmas music

Eileen Falkenberg-Hull
Dec 18, 2019, 3:44 pm

Nissan has added its own holiday-themed twist to typical pedestrian alert sounds.

Photo courtesy of Nissan North America

Jingle, jingle, jingle. It's not just Santa Claus that you hear. There's a new Christmas carol out this holiday season and it features the sounds of the 2020 Nissan Leaf.

For the 2020 model year, the Leaf received several updates that including warning sounds. The two pedestrian safety sounds received updates in tone and volume. For the U.S. market, the all-electric Nissan Leaf makes a constant tone (known as "Canto," derived from the Latin verb for "I sing") for forward movement under 18.6 mph and a pulsing chime when reversing.

The volume of these sounds was updated to meet the standards of the U.S. electric vehicle regulations that go into effect Sept. 1, 2020. An additional speaker has been added to the engine compartment to aid in the compliance.

The creative team at Urban Green Lab put those sounds to use, combining them with "Jingle Bells" and "Angels We Have Heard on High" to create a unique holiday melody. Take a listen.

Also new for the 2020 model year, the Nissan Leaf comes with Nissan's Safety Shield 360 technology, a suite of six advanced active safety and driver-assist technologies.

The 2020 Nissan Leaf will arrive at dealerships in the coming weeks.

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Tesla's vehicles are among the most advanced and forward-thinking products of any kind, but serious innovation doesn't come with tradeoffs. The automaker has been in the news recently because of issues with how its advanced cruise control systems function, and now, Autoblog reports that the NHTSA is asking questions about Tesla giving drivers the ability to play video games and browse the internet while driving.

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The feature is intended to be used while the car is parked, such as while charging, so the discovery that people can use them while driving is a serious one. Vince Patton, the person who filed the complaint with the NHTSA, tested his car and found that he could play Solitaire and a fairly involved action game while it was in motion. Internet browsing was also possible, meaning the driver could take their attention completely off the road ahead for extended periods of time.

Tesla Model 3 Tesla's screens offer advanced functions that many others do not. Tesla

Tesla was already under investigation over crashes involving its Autopilot feature. Several collisions have occurred between Teslas and emergency vehicles stopped on the side of the road. Following the initiation of that investigation, the NHTSA raised other questions with the automaker over a buggy software update that was pushed out, retracted, fixed, and reissued outside of the normal recall process. Despite their names, it's important to clarify that neither the Autopilot nor Full Self-Driving features are capable of driving the cars without driver awareness and input.

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Infiniti offers the 2022 QX50 in five trims: $40,025 Pure, $43,375 Luxe, $47,825 Essential, $52,525 Sensory, and $57,975 Autograph. All trims get Infiniti's variable compression (VC-Turbo) engine that makes 268 horsepower and returns up to 26 mpg combined. The advanced engine shifts its compression ratio to match the driver's behavior. When more power is needed, the compression changes, and when efficiency is the priority, it changes again. It's a marvel of engineering, but it's not as fuel-efficient as a hybrid. Power reaches the front or all four wheels through a continuously variable transmission.

2022 Infiniti QX50 Pricing starts at around $40,000.Infiniti

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