Can you hear it? No? Then that’s because you didn’t spend $600 on it. Photo : Porsche

Just because the US government is mandating that your electric vehicle has to have detectable engine noises doesn’t mean some automakers won’t be using engine noises to make a quick buck. Case in point: the new Porsche Taycan, which offers a legitimate mp3 of engine noises as an option... if you’re willing to spend $580.


Yes. This is, in fact, the society we live in. Just because people are opting more and more for electric cars doesn’t mean they’re willing to give up their vroom vroom just yet.

You can find this option on Porsche’s Taycan configurator under the Performance section. How an mp3 can be deemed ‘performance’ is beyond me, but


All things considered, $580 isn’t hugely expensive as an option for a hundred thousand dollar-plus car. But it’s still hilarious to realize that we now live in a society where people are willing to shell several hundred dollars to hear their car make noise.



$580 can buy you a lot of things. That’s a rent payment for a mediocre apartment. Five years of Netflix. The grocery budget for a family of four. A trip to the dentist that you really really needed. This much money could have bought you the very first ever mp3 player back when they initially came out and were only a thing rich people could buy—and you could fill that with so much music!

Or it can buy you a single mp3 of car noises. The choice is yours.