EV Shifting and Pedestrian Alert

[greensprit]

Got my 4xe. Overall I love it, but a few things surprised me (my previous EV experience from Tesla and Volvo)

1) I guess I should have known this, but the electric motor is ahead of the transmission. This means that when running in EV mode, the transmission is still shifting and you can feel the subtle shifts. Very different than my previous EV experiences which are totally linear and smooth. If you configure the Jeep dash you can have it display which gear it is in and you’ll see it shift from gears 1-4 in EV mode. The shift from 1-2 is the most noticeable.
2) while folks talk about the great instant torque of EV motors (which is true) it is definitely not the Tesla like punch. EV mode is great for normal driving, but this will not throw you back in your seat - which is fine.
3) the pedestrian alert system is really annoying. When running with sky one touch open and windows down, it sounds like scratching nails against a chalkboard. I would love to find the fuse for this and pull it or find the speaker and stuff styrofoam in it to muffle it. It really detracts from would could be a beautiful EV trail crawling experience. Anyone have any luck finding either?

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[SpaceCase]

3) the pedestrian alert system is really annoying. When running with sky one touch open and windows down, it sounds like scratching nails against a chalkboard. I would love to find the fuse for this and pull it or find the speaker and stuff styrofoam in it to muffle it. It really detracts from would could be a beautiful EV trail crawling experience. Anyone have any luck finding either?

I have been wondering about this, does the pedestrian alert system turn off in 4LO?

 

[Dryver]

I have been wondering about this, does the pedestrian alert system turn off in 4LO?

I believe it does, yes.

 

[Maxx4xE]

Interesting to read your take on the alert sound. While watching the alert system test in a video, I had a really hard time discerning the sound from the ambient noise even with noise cancelling head phones on. I get my 4XE at the end of the month (hopefully) so I guess there will be an easy way to hear it for myself.

 

[SpaceCase]

I believe it does, yes.

Cool!

 

[Jeep_Brit]

3) the pedestrian alert system is really annoying. When running with sky one touch open ...

how you liking the sky one-touch on the 4xe Rubi?

 

[greensprit]

how you liking the sky one-touch on the 4xe Rubi?

Love it! Had the dual top on my JK, but love the one touch. In New England, weather changes all the time, feel like I can open up more often now.

 

[Jeep_Brit]

Love it! Had the dual top on my JK, but love the one touch. In New England, weather changes all the time, feel like I can open up more often now.

that's great to hear! I'm in New England too, so got sold a hard top, but I've got by with just the soft top. for my next Jeep, the one-touch looked like it could be a great solution, especially in a 4xe. thx for that!!

 

[rdmelton]

3) the pedestrian alert system is really annoying. When running with sky one touch open and windows down, it sounds like scratching nails against a chalkboard. I would love to find the fuse for this and pull it or find the speaker and stuff styrofoam in it to muffle it. It really detracts from would could be a beautiful EV trail crawling experience. Anyone have any luck finding either?

I agree that it is a very annoying sound. When I first heard it, I thought it sounded somewhat like a dragging brake caliper. I wanted to make sure that it was the pedestrian warning that I was hearing and not an actual problem, so I temporarily disconnected the wiring harness at the rear speaker (located inside of the spare tire mount). I am not suggesting that anyone leave it this way, but I can confirm that the annoying noise is in fact the rear pedestrian warning system.

 

[greensprit]

I agree that it is a very annoying sound. When I first heard it, I thought it sounded somewhat like a dragging brake caliper. I wanted to make sure that it was the pedestrian warning that I was hearing and not an actual problem, so I temporarily disconnected the wiring harness at the rear speaker (located inside of the spare tire mount). I am not suggesting that anyone leave it this way, but I can confirm that the annoying noise is in fact the rear pedestrian warning system.

Very interesting. I assume that only helps when in reverse, not in drive? There are two speakers - the one in the rear under the spare tire and there's a front one under the right front fender in front of the front right wheel. I has assumed that the front activates when in drive and the rear activates when in reverse.

 

[rdmelton]

Very interesting. I assume that only helps when in reverse, not in drive? There are two speakers - the one in the rear under the spare tire and there's a front one under the right front fender in front of the front right wheel. I has assumed that the front activates when in drive and the rear activates when in reverse.

Yes, when in reverse, only the rear speaker is active and when in drive, only the front speaker is active. Disconnecting the connector to the rear speaker only disables that speaker.

I spent this evening trying to track down the exact location of the front speaker. The echoes made it very challenging. It is located under the battery box (the side towards the rear of the vehicle, almost directly under the positive terminal). The speaker is facing the front of the vehicle and the electrical connector is facing the rear of the vehicle. In order to reach the connector, I had to remove the airbox and come at it from that area, although if a person had really long and skinny arms, they *might* be able to reach down between the battery box and engine.

These wiring harnesses do have a clip that need to be disengaged before pulling the connector apart (similar to many other wiring harnesses on Jeeps). I used a small pick with a 90 degree angle on the tip to disengage the clip.

 

[greensprit]

Yup. I can see the front speaker looking up from under the vehicle by the right front wheel behind the splash guard. Can’t see where the connector is from that angle though. Do you have any pics of the connector?

 

[rdmelton]

Yup. I can see the front speaker looking up from under the vehicle by the right front wheel behind the splash guard. Can’t see where the connector is from that angle though. Do you have any pics of the connector?

Definitely not easy to get a pic of the connector. It might be possible with a borescope to get it right in that area. Just out of curiosity, I tried to access the connector from the wheel well. I put my right arm in the top of the vertical slot in the splash guard and was able to barely touch the connector, but not get a good grip on it. It might be possible if you remove the splash guard (or pull hard on it).

 

[LJ_3M121318]

Is it against the law if we disable the pedestrian alert sound?

 

[Jocko]

Regardless of the law, I can’t imagine that it would go over very well if it came up in court or with insurance companies following an accident. Naturally everyone has to make up their own minds, but personally I’m not touching that alert system with a 10 foot pole…

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