Electronic voice alert
The electronic voice alert, or EVA, was an option available on many Chrysler K-car-based vehicles in the mid-1980s. Using technology from Texas Instruments similar to what was used in the Speak & Spell, the EVA would automatically lower the radio volume and deliver eleven different spoken warning messages (24 on certain models) to drivers using a speech synthesizer. 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.[citation needed] Later models had the option to be turned off via a switch in the glovebox.
The EVA was available on the Chrysler LeBaron, Chrysler Town and Country Wagon, Chrysler LeBaron Mark Cross Edition, Chrysler Fifth Avenue, Chrysler New Yorker, Chrysler Laser, Dodge Daytona, and Dodge 600 between 1983 and 1988. Models sold in Canada accommodated both English and French. Models sold in Mexico spoke Spanish.
The "voice box" for the EVA was wired into the factory radio to play through the vehicle's factory driver's door speaker. Replacing the factory radio with a later model or aftermarket one would defeat the system.
A similar system (known as "Bitching Betty") was used on 1984-1986 Nissan 300ZX GL and GLL models.