As I suggested in a similar previous thread on this topic: You run the risk of liability if you have a incident and it is determined that you have modified this system and its reduced effectiveness is determined to have contributed to the outcome. Just food for thought!

 

I have a new Chevy Blazer EV and this sound is very annoying especially when I pull into my garage and it is still in drive.
This is a federal regulation It's the law: Electric cars must make noise after September 2019 .
Liability is the thing on my mind if I tinker with the fuses and disable it. I will be very worried if I hit someone in the neighborhood, especially a kid, and the blame goes on tinkering with the car to disable it. Society must be able to adapt to a new technology without these federal regulations. I bought it because it is supposed to be quit.

 

Mamo,
I couldn't agree more with your sentiments about the Blazer EV RWD. I flew to Texas from California to buy my Riptide Blue on Black RS RWD. I had no interest in the AWD with smaller battery, slower charge capability, and less horsepower. Of course, living in San Diego negates the need for AWD. This vehicle is, so far, amazing. It's definitely an around-town, daily driver vehicle for me. I also have solar and enjoy the free driving. My 6-speed ZL1 gives me all the pleasure one could want in an ICE vehicle. Since my first three days with my Blazer EV was used for driving 1400 miles home, I can say first hand, that driving Electric Vehicles on a road-trip like this, is pure lunacy. If I was driving this same drive in a gas powered vehicle, it would have only been two days. Also, I had no prior experience in charging and paid 64 center per kWh for 1400 miles. Way more expensive than gas! Especially with gas prices outside of California.

When I test drove Blazers originally before the stop-sale, I could swear the "Angels" were much louder than I'm experiencing on my RWD that was produced in 2/24 and has the software update, or even was built with the current software version. I knew about disconnecting the connectors under the bumper and had planned on doing so. However, now, with what seems to be a lower volume of "Angels", I'm good with it. I absolutely love my Blazer EV!

 

Mamo,
I couldn't agree more with your sentiments about the Blazer EV RWD. I flew to Texas from California to buy my Riptide Blue on Black RS RWD. I had no interest in the AWD with smaller battery, slower charge capability, and less horsepower. Of course, living in San Diego negates the need for AWD. This vehicle is, so far, amazing. It's definitely an around-town, daily driver vehicle for me. I also have solar and enjoy the free driving. My 6-speed ZL1 gives me all the pleasure one could want in an ICE vehicle. Since my first three days with my Blazer EV was used for driving 1400 miles home, I can say first hand, that driving Electric Vehicles on a road-trip like this, is pure lunacy. If I was driving this same drive in a gas powered vehicle, it would have only been two days. Also, I had no prior experience in charging and paid 64 center per kWh for 1400 miles. Way more expensive than gas! Especially with gas prices outside of California.

When I test drove Blazers originally before the stop-sale, I could swear the "Angels" were much louder than I'm experiencing on my RWD that was produced in 2/24 and has the software update, or even was built with the current software version. I knew about disconnecting the connectors under the bumper and had planned on doing so. However, now, with what seems to be a lower volume of "Angels", I'm good with it. I absolutely love my Blazer EV!

Yes....I felt the same about the AWD vs RWD situation and had to search and travel quite a distance to pick one up as well (not nearly as bad as your ride though!.....only 300 miles!). Seems they make 15 AWD versions to every RWD car and I also live in CA so don't really have much need for the benefits of AWD. And the whole "EV's are cheaper to run than gas cars" is really BS as you and I found out quickly. Unless your paying more reasonable rates for electricity (or have solar to help out), the cost benefits of the EV has really dwindled....certainly in Commiefornia. And that's only going to get worse moving forward unless things change drastically in the cost of electricity which lets face it is highly unlikely. Also you mentioned the volume of the "Angels".....Im pretty sure they did change that situation (a volume reduction) based on all the reading I did in an effort to find a solution.

Drove it today.....clocked 78 miles with only 21% loss in battery life.....and a good part of that was traveling 70 - 75 MPH or so (and some slower driving in traffic.....it wasn't all highway). That's pretty good.....at that pace I would get over 360 miles if I ran it from 100% to zero (not that I would but the range GM quotes is conservative if anything. I do know that higher speeds on a straight freeway run wont be nearly as good but for a vehicle that has a pretty big frontal area, if you keep it a reasonable speeds the range is surprisingly good (obviously the larger battery in the RWD helps but it costs more to fully charge of course also.....efficiency levels of both AWD and RWD are probably similar).

😎

 

Mamo,

Thanks for the post, it is definitely loud, distracting and annoying to me.

 

Looks like you and I came up with the same solution....although I do not have a Blazer EV....YET. I did just return a Blazer EV loaner that I had for a few days and yes that noise is very loud and annoying. It does play after 30KPH but it is very muted but still somewhat noticeable. Yesterday I also noticed the sound coming from the back while reversing. Sneaky buggers. However it will be useful as a "reverse beeper" sort of system.

Looking forward to your pics on this.

 

Thanks for the discovery. That saves me a lot of Google search time. Yes, that sound is absolutely nuts. It could come in handy when you are near pedestrains, but 99% of the time it is crazy and annoying. I Like your description of career and hot rods, likewise my other car is a C8 Corvette. Just bought the RS today. Really impressed with everything.

 

I bought the Blazer EV to offset and carbon neutralize my C8.

 

Yes! That works. Thanks again for sharing the solution.
Time to remove most of the bolts in the lower splash cover; 4 minutes.
Time to locate the speaker and connector; 1 minute
Time to unhook the connector; 15 minutes and a lot of cuss words !@#$%^

The pleasure of driving without circus music: Priceless

Wiring connectors are always a pain and every one is different.
I took a picture. The orange tab pulls out first, it is tough. I pushed with a screwdriver and it popped all the way out. THEN you can press on the white tab that is touching the orange in this picture.
Just squeeze the white tab, you can pull the connector off without damaging it like I did.
Tape it up so it will not fill with water, put a cable tie on secured it to the wiring harness so it will not rattle.

 

Thanks for this Oregon! Cured my only compliant with this car.

 

Oregon,

Glad my thread helped you out.....and YES....that connector is a PITA to remove. I had removed the whole belly pan (which in hindsight is unnecessary) and was standing under it on my four post lift so I had an easier time accessing it and it was still a bitch to get off.

Anyway.....a couple of pics for you guys. The first is a more zoomed out location of the speaker and slightly troublesome connector.....LOL

Basically once the pink lock is slid forward you have to squeeze that connecter a good bit (at the white part that now has a gap in front of it with the pink part pulled forward) and at the same time pull to remove). If you really get frustrated just cut the wires....it won't act any different than leaving the plug disconnected but I would recommend you wrestle with the plug and keep the OEM connector in place.

If you haven't seen under your vehicle its pretty cool with the absolutely flat battery taking up most of the real estate. Seems to me GM made that battery completely serviceable and easily removable in the event it goes bad or just times out over many years. Have no clue what a replacement would cost but you don't have to dismantle the entire vehicle to replace it and that's certainly bonus!

 

do you not loose the horn when you do that?

 

Very Cool. I am thinking the best solution would be to put a switch inside the car, run wires to the speaker. Then you could leave it off until you get to a parking lot with people on foot, and turn it on for that. It could be valuable, but to have it on all of the time is just nuts.

I can't believe that GM thought this was a good idea. I don't think it is a fed law because my friend just bought a 2024 Tesla and it makes no sound.

 

Keeping it on in reverse is a no brainer.....your limited with visibility in reverse. Going forward....if I feel people aren't aware Im close by a quick horn beep will work just fine

The switch is actually a decent idea but is it worth all the trouble?

And I agree completely on the Fed law deal (or lack there of). It was one thing I told my wife....I have customers pulling up to my shop with new electric vehicles and no noises emitting from the car....I just hear rocks crunching under the tires as they pull up.

 

The reverse chimes totally make sense, just like a backup alarm on a truck.

Worth the work for a switch, exactly what I am thinking. and where do you put the switch. I don't want to be drilling holes in my new car.
If you drive into a mall or parking lot, I guess you just need to crank up the tunes, or lower the window and yell LOOKOUT NO BRAKES. That solves it.

 

Here is a link to “the EV noise law” it is actually a rule from NHTSA. Federal Register :: Request Access

From what I see all manufacturers of EVs must have noise under 18.2 mph. The rule effective date maybe was in 2020. My Blazer EV for sure starts the sound when my speed goes below 25. I agree the Blazer noise seems too loud.

My sons Tesla does make a noise.

One of the notes in the ”rule”:
Another 117 comments called for a consistent, recognizable sound or sounds in vehicles so blind persons can detect that a vehicle is nearby. Of these, 109 called for a single, uniform sound.

 

Interesting. I have never heard a sound from a Tesla. The blazer is the first EV that I have ever heard make noise. Maybe I just never paid attention.

 

I don't know about Teslas, but our Prius Plug-In Hybrid made a sound... its a safety issue.

 

I'll reiterate what someone else said and note that this sound is a safety warning. If it were disabled and you're involved in a pedestrian accident, I'd be concerned about liability for disabling a safety warning on a car.

 

I added sound deading to the front and rear speaker grill. You still hear the sound but closer to my Tesla speaker volume.

 

That is what I was planning to do. I don't want to eliminate the sound, I just don't want to hear it in the cabin.

 

It’s been a couple months no issues. Don’t hear the sound inside the car much anymore. My guess it’s half the volume now. Standing outside the car you do hear the sounds. Good compromise imo.

 

I had to pull away some of the front and rear bumper cover to access the speakers. I found a cup that had the same diameter as the speaker grill. Used it to draw a circle on the sound deadening then with scissors cut it out. Used my hand and gloves to rub the sound material over the speaker. Used a heat gun to soften the material.

 

thank you, is sound deadening material sticky? never used this before

 

I used 80 mil thick film. It is sticky on one side. You can use any sound deadening to cover the speaker. I ordered this film from Amazon. I painted the bottom black to hide it. You should be able to find black film on Amazon.

Amazon.com

 

I was not able to pull the grill off. Did not want to damage the grill so I covered it.

 

The grill is not only snapped on, it's glued on as well.. Definate no go on removing without breaking it...

 

To be honest, that noise is way too loud when driving in town. I did call GM about that and they told me there's alot of complaint about it. Today they received a notice that they are actually working on finding à solution for it and that we all can expect something soon. Maybe a recall or an update to fix this issue.

 

This was the right way to fix it. Thank you for contacting GM for us. The pedestrian protection is important especially for blind walkers in the city and should be simple for GM to lower the volume to the legal requirement.

when I am in a drive thru it is simple to put the Blazer ev into park and back to drive so it did not bother me too much. Way easier than my 2019 Volt was.

 

The sound level is going to be a pretty low priority on GM's list if GM ever changes it at all. IMO cover it and you will love the car that much more. I never think about the sound level anymore but you do still hear it outside the car. Not disabled but adjusted.

 

Now that you covered the speaker with 80mil deadener how much did it reduce the sound, by 50%
Thanks
MB

 

Industry standardizing on a sound would be a good idea. Stop these crazy sounds and switch to recognized sound like an engine. Now what exhaust sound do you get? That will be a debated topic.

Cadillac Considers a Hypercar; People Prefer EVs with ICE Sounds - Autoline Daily 3829

 

@MYSS I used 3M08840 and cut it to fit the speaker.. Used 2 layers. Thank you for your informative post on how to accomplish this. Was very easy to do, only had to remove about 6-7 screws from right front underpan..Do not hear it in the car anymore, but outside it is audible..
Did not do the rear.. Not sure if I going to or not.. Doesn't bother me mearly as much as the front one did..

Thank you!

Link to Napa for the sheet of insulation for anyone interested...

https://www.napaonline.com/en/p/MMM08840

 

Thank you so much mamoMsports!! I have a equinox ev and it's identical as the blazer ev set up. Couldnt find any info on equinox. On the 2 bolt euvs I had u could just pull a fuse (there waz only the pfaf on 1 fuse). I really hate that noise and I honestly don't think it makes any difference, except sounding really weird and getting strange looks from people. At low speeds there is not much difference between newer ICE vehicles and evs

 

It's better than the "demonic angel choir" noise the Toyota hybrids make. Teslas sound like UFOs. I think it would be neat if GM allowed customizing the sound by letting us pick from a list.

 

Have had car for just over a week and this is the most annoying thing. Love the car. Got to dial down the volume. So, do I try to fix or hope Chevy does? Any pictures of panel that needs to be removed?