Traffic road noise and transportation energy efficiency

Future noise emission limits for passenger car are going to lower levels by 2024 -Social cost of noise for France in 2021, shows clearly that the dominant source of noise pollution is road traffic (81 Bn€ for a total of 146 Bn€) This R51 regulation is meant to lower the noise pollution from road traffic, but when looking closer to the sources and their contributions, in particular the tire/road noise interaction, the environmental efficiency of this regulation is questionable. Tire/Road interaction involves tires characteristics, that are constrained by an array of specification and it has been proven that there is a physical limit to what could be expected from the tire as far as tire/road interaction noise is concerned.Road surface however, shows very wide acoustic characteristics spread : over 15dBA from the quietest to the loudest asphalt, to be compared to 2dBA steps in the regulation and an environmental impact that will depend on the rolling stock renewal rate. This paper will present a new patented method from Renault enabling to assess road acoustic data mapping from a simple drive of a Megane E-Tech, quickly and efficiently, issuing the first ever noise pollution control maps.