Glydsphere promises to “bring sound color back into your life” and make driving green more satisfying.

From the roar of a Corvette to the purr of a Mercedes S-class luxury sedan, sound has always been an important part of our experience in and around cars. Until electric vehicles came on the scene and … nothing. No sound whatsoever.

Now some folks might appreciate the quiet, but for other car enthusiasts, the absence of sound reduces their enjoyment.

Johannes Luckemeier

Glydsphere-Space Gravity LLC says it offers the world’s first sound system for electric vehicles. According to the company, it requires no installation or car modifications, and the sound, which syncs with movement, is audible inside and outside the vehicle. The integration caters to individual preferences but also addresses safety concerns by providing auditory cues for pedestrians.

Founder Johannes Luckemeier bases the company in Houston but has strong connections to Germany, where he was educated and worked in Sound Design at Harman, BMW, and Mercedes-AMG GmbH, which leads marketing for Mercedes-Benz vehicles and products,

He started Glydsphere after his own unsatisfying experience with his new Tesla.

Luckemeier said that driving the EV “felt like living life on mute.”

With his background in sound design, he started tinkering with car sounds and developed Glydsphere, which offers a wide variety of sounds from a Ferrari or a muscle car to the Millenium Falcon from Star Wars.

Excelling at entrepreneurial engagement

Luckemeier grew up in an entrepreneurial family, with his parents starting their own company. Those conversations around the dinner table left their mark, he said. After working for a decade in large international corporations, he felt “this is not the right place for me.”

Luckemeier was one of 12 founders to participate in the 2024 Capital One Accelerator, a 12-week mobility-focused program that helps startups develop business plans, become capital-ready, build connections, and fine-tune their pitches. During the Accelerator’s pitch at Dallas Startup Week, he received the top award as one of two “Most Engaged Founders,” winning $5,000 for making great contributions to the cohort.

Beyond the enjoyment of interacting with fellow mobility entrepreneurs in the program, he gained a few potential supporters for Glydsphere. One of the guest speakers was a business attorney who “is a really good fit for my current needs.” And his mentor for the Accelerator has become a strategic advisor.

As for his winnings, Luckemeier said he plans to use them to help with legal fees for his initial funding round, already in process.

‘An ingenuity issue’

The global electric vehicle market was valued at $500 billion last year and is expected to grow to $1.9 trillion by 2032, according to Fortune Business Insights.

But current sales are sagging from what experts predicted a few years ago, and some of the legacy manufacturers are doubling down on internal combustion engines (ICE) and producing fewer EVs.

Via LinkedIn, Luckemeier weighed in on automakers’ shift from EVs back to ICE cars. He doesn’t think it’s a demand problem.

“Here it is more of an ingenuity issue,” he said.

Some of that slump in the market is due to the missing visceral experience of sound, according to an April New York Times story and a May story from Barron’s.

Glydsphere aims to solve that “life on mute” problem for electric vehicles.

The company’s sound system pairs a high-performance speaker, placed in the car’s trunk, and an app with a custom library of more than 50 sounds, and growing. Want your car to sound like a Maserati, a rocket ship, a flying car, or UFO? Glydsphere’s got you covered.

After a recent industry event in San Luis Obispo, Luckemeier hinted at the finalization of Glydsphere’s integration with Tesla’s upcoming Cybertruck in a LinkedIn post. As Luckemeier wrote, “We already have Cybertruck customers waiting for their Glydsphere,” highlighting the demand for personalized vehicle experiences.

The founder also expressed enthusiasm about seeing Tesla CEO Elon Musk. The industry event in California gathered electric vehicle enthusiasts and Tesla aftermarket vendors. Luckemeier also noted “starting the conversation with Tesla for customizable engine sounds,” a feature that could enhance the driving experience and draw car enthusiasts to electric vehicles.

For more details on the 2024 Capital One Accelerator Program Pitch and its finalists, read the full story here.

Capital One is a Dallas Innovates Platinum partner. “ Solving the Problem of ‘Life on Mute’: Glydsphere Provides Rich and Varied Sounds To Sync With the Silent Engines of EVs” was written and edited by Dallas Innovates’ brand studio.

Get on the list.
Dallas Innovates, every day.

Sign up to keep your eye on what’s new and next in Dallas-Fort Worth, every day.