Panasonic Automotive ANC technology reaches a new milestone with Panasonic Automotive Systems’ newly developed integrated Active Noise Control system, which the company calls the world’s first able to cancel both road noise and engine noise together in a series-hybrid vehicle. The new Panasonic Automotive ANC system makes its production debut on the X and G grades of Nissan’s all-new Elgrand for the Japanese market, built into the minivan’s standard audio system.
Why Panasonic Automotive ANC Combines Road and Engine Noise Control
Road noise and engine noise have historically needed separate, specialised control systems because of their different frequency characteristics; engine noise in particular has relied on narrowband control targeting frequencies below 200Hz. The new Panasonic Automotive ANC system instead controls both simultaneously, in real time, across a broad frequency range. Accelerometers placed throughout the vehicle pick up vibrations that correlate closely with cabin noise, and a proprietary signal-processing algorithm uses those readings to predict the resulting sound and calculate antiphase audio, which the car’s own speakers then play back to cancel the noise through sound-wave interference.
Real-Time Response and Vehicle-Specific Tuning
Because Panasonic Automotive ANC tracks changes in road surface and driving conditions as they happen, it is designed to hold its noise-reduction performance steady rather than only working under lab conditions, and it deliberately leaves music, conversation and phone calls untouched since it targets only road- and engine-correlated noise. Panasonic’s engineers join each vehicle programme from the early development stages, analysing that car’s acoustic, body-vibration and speaker characteristics to decide where accelerometers and microphones go and how the control system should be configured, tuning the Panasonic Automotive ANC setup to the specific vehicle structure and powertrain.
Panasonic Automotive’s existing ANC technology is already fitted across more than 60 vehicle models from five or more automakers worldwide; this integrated road-and-engine-noise version marks the technology’s first production deployment under the Panasonic Automotive ANC name. The company, soon to be renamed Mobitera, continues to position noise control as part of its broader push toward quieter, more refined cabins, alongside its wider automotive audio and infotainment work already covered on bestofhighend.com.
Pricing and availability
Panasonic Automotive ANC is not sold separately; it ships as standard equipment on the X and G grades of the Nissan Elgrand for the Japanese market. Full technical details on the Panasonic Automotive ANC system are available via Panasonic Automotive Systems’ newsroom.
Key specifications
- System: Panasonic Automotive ANC, integrated Active Noise Control for road noise + engine noise
- First application: Nissan all-new Elgrand (X and G grades, Japan market)
- Vehicle type: series-hybrid
- Noise detection: multiple accelerometers across the vehicle body
- Noise cancellation: antiphase audio played through the existing speakers
- Conventional engine-noise control: narrowband, below 200Hz
- New system: broadband, real-time, integrated road + engine control
- Panasonic ANC technology in use: 60+ vehicle models, 5+ automakers
- Company renaming to Mobitera Inc. from April 2027
