['ol Pinion head]

Thank you 5th T/A for returning the thread to its original from a covoluted "apples & oranges" type of vehicle mpg comparison.

As alluded to the "while in reverse" sound emanating from under hybrid & modern electric vehicles is an artificially induced sound required by Federal Safety standards. The sound is there for dumb#sses that don't pay attention to their surrounding in busy parking areas! From under our XSE RAV4, it's not that overbearing a sound. Alot less annoying than a loud Beep Beep Beep from a large power jack, electric forklift, or a piece of large dirt moving equipment. The sound in our hybrid comes from a small weatherproof speaker mounted behind the nose up high on the front side of the core support.

7:00 this morning I was backing out at the monster convenience station up the road from our place. This is VERY busy station, all 24 pump islands had SUV's & trucks being refueled, with another dozen vehicles waiting. The concrete apron area from the 3 entrys leading towards the monster canopy & pumps is close to an acre & a half in size. Add in near a dozen contractor truck & trailers parked sideways. The area up front between the pump islands & the long store is normal sized. In that area a ton of folks walk to/from the entry doors, many are on their phones. Very easy to surprise folks whipping in or backing out of that area. Hope ive drawn a good picture... that noted, the only time I park on the front row when the joint is hoppin, is when I'm in one of our normal sized vehicles. Its somewhat "fun" to back out of nearly any of the front row spaces in my Cummins Dodge (very long wb & a stick). Being the trip up there is nearly all on battery power, makes it easy to take the Hybrid.