Virtual sound provision apparatus and method for electric vehicles

A virtual sound provision method for an electric vehicle, the virtual sound provision method comprising the steps of:

• collecting, by a controller, vehicle driving information for outputting a virtual driving sound during driving of the electric vehicle;
• determining, by the controller, a characteristic of a target sound corresponding to an acceleration or deceleration driving pattern of a driver from an accelerator pedal input value and a brake pedal input value of the driver, among the collected vehicle driving information;
• generating and outputting, by the controller, a sound control signal for outputting the virtual driving sound having the characteristic of the target sound based on the determined characteristic information of the target sound and characteristic information of an actual driving sound acquired by a microphone of the electric vehicle;
• and
• controlling operation of a sound device such that the virtual driving sound is generated and output according to the sound control signal output from the controller,
• wherein the step of determining the characteristic of the target sound comprises the step of
• determining, by the controller, the acceleration or deceleration driving pattern of the driver based on pedal manipulation information of the driver accumulated during driving of the electric vehicle,
• wherein the acceleration or deceleration driving pattern of the driver is determined from frequency of gradual acceleration, sudden acceleration, gradual deceleration, and sudden deceleration accumulated during driving of the electric vehicle,
• wherein the frequency of gradual acceleration, sudden acceleration, gradual deceleration, and sudden deceleration is obtained from pedal input information of the driver collected during previous driving of the electric vehicle, and
• wherein the pedal input information of the driver is information about driver manipulation of the accelerator pedal and driver manipulation of the brake pedal during the previous driving of the electric vehicle.