JAKARTA - Since 2022, the world's prestigious rally championship, the World Rally Championship (WRC) has moved to hybrid technology. For this season, a new rule was introduced, namely that hybrid cars have artificial sounds.

Quoted from CarBuzz, Monday, March 20, during a World Motor Sport Council discussion in Bahrain, the FIA set the WRC teams to vote on its hybrid cars during EV mode.

Manufacturers such as Hyundai, Toyota, and Ford are asked to make sound on their respective hybrid cars. In accordance with these regulations, the WRC car will sound at least 80 dB at a distance of 2 meters from the front and rear of the vehicle, as well as 1 meter from the ground when speeding on the track.

This artificial sound must be activated when the car is in EV mode. When the car is traveling at a speed of 30 km/hour, artificial sounds are allowed to be turned off.

The creation of artificial sound regulations at the WRC aims to attract spectators in participating in the world rally championship. The regulation will start on May 1, which means it will be implemented at the Portuguese rally, May 11-14, 2023.

Included in the regulations, each car has a 100 kW electric motorcycle, designed by Compact Dynamics, is required to go only using EV mode while in the service area.

Racers are also stressed to advance in electric mode during the HEV zone determined in the rally action located on the road, a move designed to minimize the use of noise pollution and reduce disruption as cars pass through cities and villages on the next stage.

As is known, WRC introduced the latest hybrid regulation, namely Rally1 for the 2022 season. This is done in an effort to take part in the use of environmentally friendly cars, as well as implementing sustainable fuel on Rally1 cars.