But (see https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48792667) there is (it seems, I am not sure where it comes from) an especially fastidious noise from the engine, then additional noises to make the vehicle louder (and those I have heard are worse than nails on chalkboards), and then additional alarms to increase the "construction site" effect.

It is not a matter of decibels. It is a matter of nerves impact.

I wrote «the noise poll[u]tion I hear coming from the electric to me is a million times worse than ICEs». Pollution. It has many dimensions - "loud" is just one.