With virtually no engine noise, electric vehicles are smooth and nearly silent. But is that a good thing? Some parents, and their children<\/em>, would disagree.<\/p>\n According to research from Nissan, more than half of all the UK-based parents surveyed resort to hopping in their car with their restless children to help them get to sleep: A practice Nissan charmingly refers to as a \u201cdream drive.\u201d And Nissan is close to replicating this in otherwise-quiet electric vehicles.<\/span><\/p>\n [Read: A tricked-out Nissan Leaf just completed Britain\u2019s longest fully autonomous drive]<\/em><\/p>\n \u201cCombustion engines transmit a sound frequency, a combination of white, pink and brown noise varied in tone \u2013 creating an orchestral soundscape that is especially soothing and comforting to young children,\u201d Nissan noise and vibration development manager Paul Speed-Andrews said.<\/p>\n With no internal combustion engine to produce those comforting vibrations and aural frequencies that can send a child to sleep in just minutes, EV drivers are at a bit of a loss.<\/p>\n \u201cOne of the biggest worries new parents have is how to get their baby to sleep. Parents soon realize that taking a drive in the car or \u2018dream driving\u2019 is a great way to get a baby or young child to nod off,\u201d parenting expert Elizabeth O\u2019Shea said.<\/p>\n Thankfully Nissan is on the case, and has dreamt up what it says is the world\u2019s first \u201czero-emission lullaby\u201d for electric vehicles.<\/p>\n In collaboration with sound designer and sleep coach Tom Middleton, Nissan has developed a soundscape that replicates the reassuring hum of internal combustion engines to, in theory, induce sleep in youngsters.<\/p>\n It\u2019s more than just a series of sound effects. Nissan has released its soundscape as a five-part album. It includes contributions from great artists such as Reversing Tone and Indicator Click. It even features solos from the likes of Proximity Sensor Sounds and Rear Windscreen Wiper.<\/p>\n Seriously though, the environmental impact of dream driving shouldn\u2019t be overlooked.<\/p>\n Nissan\u2018s research found that parents spend an average of 20-25 minutes when \u201cdream driving,\u201d usually covering around 8 km (roughly 5 miles) each time. In other words, this equates to around 70 kg of CO2 per family per year.<\/p>\n To play the \u201cDream Drive lullaby,\u201d drivers can connect their phone to their car and stream the album directly to the vehicle\u2018s stereo. It\u2019s on a host of platforms, so you can play it anywhere you please.<\/p>\n You\u2019re curious, aren\u2019t you? Well, you can listen to it for yourself here. Just don\u2019t fall asleep at your desk.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n![\"nissan,](\"https:\/\/cdn0.tnwcdn.com\/wp-content\/blogs.dir\/1\/files\/2020\/02\/picture.jpg\")