Musk likes coconuts, bleating goats for safety sounds

One of the issues some people have with electric cars is how quiet the vehicles are. For example, if you’ve ever walked through a parking garage, you might have done a double take when you noticed a Tesla Model 3 on your tail that you had no idea was there. This is what happens when a car doesn’t have an internal combustion engine to rumble, roar and let you know it’s about to take you over.

Leave it to the federal government to step into the way of that oncoming car. Starting in September of next year, federal regulations will go into effect that will require new electric cars sold in the United States to emit artificial sounds when those vehicles are traveling below 18.6 miles per hour. The concept is simple: When the cars start to slow down, or come to a stop, they will make a noise, possibly similar to a standard car engine, that will make pedestrians aware of their presence, and create a safer overall vehicle and pedestrian situation.

And with Tesla being the mosticonic electric car company on the market, such a regulation will have an impact on the automaker. And, needless to day, Tesla Chief Executive Elon Musk has some feelings about the car-noise matter, and what Tesla might have to offer a year or so from now.

“Customized horn & movement sounds (coconuts being one, of course) coming to Teslas soon,” Musk tweeted on Sunday.

The “coconuts” that Musk mentioned might provide some insight into Musk’s sense of humor. Anyone who has ever seen the movie “Monty Python and the Holy Grail” knows the scenes where an aide to King Arthur claps coconut halves together to imitate the sound of a trotting horse. Also, this past Saturday marked the 50th anniversary of the debut of “Monty Python’s Flying Circus” on British television.

Musk also added that other sounds that Teslas might put out could include a bleating goat, and that of a certain bodily function that decorum prevents mentioning here.

Now, Musk’s comments might need to be taken with a grain of salt, as he has been known to say some things on Twitter that aren’t completely serious. Then again, he has also said some things on Twitter that were serious enough that eventually raised the ire of the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Tesla had no comment on Musk’s tweet about his car safety sound ideas.