Apparently, the article that we covered last Wednesday -- about artificial sounds being added to electric vehicles for pedestrian safety -- caused a bit of a dust-up in The New York Times' comments section and elsewhere. Jim Motavali, the author of the original piece, has a follow-up at the Times' Wheels blog today, which looks at the reactions from various corners.

Carmakers see unique sounds -- emitted, in some cases, via a bumper-mounted speaker -- as a unique branding opportunity (Nissan sound engineer Toshiyuki Tabata said that the high-pitched noise for the upcoming Leaf EV was based on the sounds of flying cars in "Blade Runner"), but safety experts and others warn that too-unique noises would get lost in the general din and would not, possibly, sound enough like cars to be effective in warning pedestrians.

We won't rehash the debate (you can find Motavali's recap here), and though it's an interesting debate, we can't help but wonder: Don't cars (well, sports cars) already have a unique noise that's like branded sounds ... you know, the engine's exhaust notes? In any case, we're interested to hear your thoughts in the comments -- what do you think of adding artificial sound to EVs, for safety's sake? And if it does happen, who should determine what the car sounds like?