Electronic voice alert (EVA) was an option available on many

Chrysler Stellantis North America (officially FCA US and formerly Chrysler ()) is one of the " Big Three" automobile manufacturers in the United States, headquartered in Auburn Hills, Michigan. It is the American subsidiary of the multinational automot ...

K-car-based vehicles in the mid-1980s. Chrysler and Dodge used technology of the

Texas Instruments LPC Speech Chips The Texas Instruments LPC Speech Chips are a series of speech synthesizer digital signal processor integrated circuits created by Texas Instruments beginning in 1978. They continued to be developed and marketed for many years, though the speech d ...

, that were also used in the Speak & Spell toy. The EVA would automatically lower the radio volume and deliver eleven different spoken warning messages to drivers using a

speech synthesizer Speech synthesis is the artificial production of human speech. A computer system used for this purpose is called a speech synthesizer, and can be implemented in software or hardware products. A text-to-speech (TTS) system converts normal languag ...

in 24 certain models. A similar system was used in 1984 to 1986

Nissan 300ZX The Nissan 300ZX is a sports car that was produced across two different generations. As with all other versions of the Z, the 300ZX was sold within the Japanese domestic market under the name Fairlady Z. It was sold in Japan from 1983 to 2000 a ...

Nissan 200SX The Nissan 200SX (originally Datsun 200SX until the early 1980s) is an automobile nameplate that has been used on various export specification Nissan , trade name, trading as Nissan Motor Corporation and often shortened to Nissan, is a Japanes ...

, and the

Nissan Maxima The Nissan Maxima is a full-size car manufactured and marketed by Nissan and offered as Nissan's flagship sedan primarily in North America, the Middle East, and China — and currently in its eighth generation. Having debuted for model year ...

GL and GLE models. The messages are played from a miniature phonograph record, similar as used in speaking

doll A doll is a model typically of a human or humanoid character, often used as a toy for children. Dolls have also been used in traditional religious rituals throughout the world. Traditional dolls made of materials such as clay and wood are foun ...

s. The EVA was available on the Chrysler LeBaron (and the optional Mark Cross Edition),

Chrysler Town and Country The Chrysler Town & Country is a minivan that was manufactured and marketed by Chrysler from 1990 to the 2016 model years. The third of the Chrysler minivans introduced, the 1990 Town & Country shared its nameplate with the flagship Chrysler st ...

Wagon A wagon or waggon is a heavy four-wheeled vehicle pulled by draught animals or on occasion by humans, used for transporting goods, commodities, agricultural materials, supplies and sometimes people. Wagons are immediately distinguished from ...

, Chrysler Fifth Avenue,

Chrysler New Yorker The Chrysler New Yorker is an automobile model that was produced by Chrysler from 1940 until 1996, serving for several decades as the brand's flagship model, or as a junior sedan to the Chrysler Imperial luxury brand. A trim level named the "New Y ...

Chrysler Laser Stellantis North America (officially FCA US and formerly Chrysler ()) is one of the " Big Three" automobile manufacturers in the United States, headquartered in Auburn Hills, Michigan. It is the American subsidiary of the multinational automotiv ...

Dodge Daytona The Dodge Daytona is an automobile which was produced by the Chrysler Corporation under their Dodge division from 1984 until 1993. It was a front-wheel drive hatchback based on the Chrysler G platform, which was derived from the Chrysler K platf ...

, and Dodge 600 between 1983 and 1988. Models sold in Canada accommodated both English and French. Models sold in Mexico spoke Spanish. Generally paired with a digital instrument cluster and considered the height of technology at the time, many drivers grew weary of the system constantly admonishing them to fasten their seatbelts and turned it off via removing a fuse, which sometimes deactivates the fuel gauge. Later models had the option to be turned off via a switch in the glovebox.

References

{{reflist

External links

Stan Watkins's EVA page
Automotive accessories Chrysler Texas Instruments