Saving the planet might be the selfless motive for driving electric cars, but most owners derive the greatest pleasure from the silence of their vehicles. However, it’s a pleasure soon to disappear as lawmakers in Europe and the US prepare rules to make them noisier. The argument is that pedestrians would be safer, especially those with impaired vision and hearing. Although some figures from the US do suggest that proportionately there are higher collision rates with electric vehicles, conclusive data is nevertheless scarce. Do people really navigate the urban jungle using only their ears? Or indeed the latest diesel-engined vehicles, which, at low speeds, are very quiet? In fact, electric cars offer a rare opportunity to cut both chemical and noise pollution and we should embrace them. The sound made by internal-combustion engines is just an unwelcome waste product. Some people may find it useful, but then so did those who gathered up the dung from all our horse-driven carriages to use as fertiliser. Insisting that electric cars make a noise would be like passing a law in the early 20 th century, obliging drivers of the new-fangled “motor vehicle” to deposit a load of well-rotted compost on the side of the road every 50 miles.