Listen to podcast
#06 Sounds of the future:
What does electric mobility sound like?
Shaping Mobility – The Volkswagen Podcast – Episode 6

The presenter duo Alina Engelmeier and Vincenzo Lanzilotti talk to Indra-Lena Kögler, UX designer at Volkswagen, and Prof. Dr. Philip Leistner, Director of the Institute for Acoustics and Building Physics IABP at the University of Stuttgart and Managing Director of the Fraunhofer Institute for Building Physics IBP.

What characterises sound design? What does a Volkswagen electric car sound like? What sounds are in the ID.3? And does electric mobility have a positive effect on our environment – are cities getting quieter? Indra-Lena Kögler, UX designer at Volkswagen, and Prof. Dr. Philip Leistner, Director of the Institute for Acoustics and Building Physics IABP at the University of Stuttgart and Managing Director of the Fraunhofer Institute for Building Physics IBP, answer these questions. Alina Engelmeier and Vincenzo Lanzilotti listen and make the following discoveries:
- Electric mobility brings sound to the fore. In addition to the electric drive, sounds in the interior also make for a pleasant driving experience.
- Volkswagen electric cars such as the ID.3 have an individual sound design: sensual, innovative and pleasant.
- Electric cars make less noise than cars with a combustion engine and can improve the quality of life in a city.
The experts
A Volkswagen electric car needs to reflect the character of the car. We connect fundamental design values: The sound has to be sensual, it needs to carry the innovativeness and it goes without saying that it has to be pleasant.
Indra-Lena Kögler has been working at Volkswagen for 18 years, and she has been a UX designer for 14 of these years. In the Volkswagen Design team she is responsible for a holistic user experience of light, sound, interaction and sense of space. The versatile creative mind most recently worked on the sound design of the ID.3 and ID.4, as well as the interaction concept of the Tourareg. Indra graduated in Communication and Media Design in 2001.
If we assume that electric cars are quieter on average than conventional combustion engines, electric drive can have a calming effect on the city and also improve the acoustic quality of life of a city.
Prof. Dr. Philip Leistner is an expert in “acoustic urban design” and the Director of the Institute for Acoustics and Building Physics (IABP) at the University of Stuttgart, and Managing Director of the Fraunhofer Institute for Building Physics IBP. His research focusses on the areas of environmental, building and room acoustics as elements of the holistic, sustainable design of buildings and cities.
All podcast episodes
This topic was first published by Volkswagen Newsroom on 08/27/21.
.