One unusual way to tell if a GM vehicle uses the Global B electronic architecture is to listen to the warning chimes it makes.
Our video shows the chimes sounding in a 2019 Chevy Corvette C7, which is not a Global B vehicle, and a 2021 Chevy Tahoe, which is. In the Corvette, each chime is a single note, repeated at short intervals. The sound is functional and clear, but little more than that.
In the Tahoe, the chimes sound more rapidly. Each consists of two notes, the first acting as a grace note to the second. The second note is a major third higher in pitch than the first, giving a friendlier and more pleasing sound – if any musical interval can be said to have a smile on its face, it’s the rising major third. This eliminates any extra sense of insistence which might have been caused by the shorter time gap between each chime.
Chevy Corvette C7 Stingray interior
The extra computing power required to produce the later chimes is vanishingly small compared with the superiority that Global B has over the earlier Global A digital platform. For example, its processing power is five times higher, at 4.5 terabytes per hour.
2021 Chevy Tahoe interior
Known publicly as Vehicle Intelligence Platform, Global B allows GM to deliver more modern vehicle powertrains (like electric vehicles), enhanced safety systems, new levels of vehicle cybersecurity, new infotainment features and ever-improving semi-autonomous driver assistance, such as the Super Cruise system already available on several Cadillac models, and the upcoming Ultra Cruise. Another advantage of Global B is that it allows more rapid communication between the vehicle and outside sources, making it possible for over- the-air software updates.
In addition to the Tahoe, GM vehicles currently using Global B are the:
- 2020 Chevy Corvette
- 2021 Cadillac CT4
- 2021 Cadillac CT5
- 2021 Cadillac Escalade / Escalade ESV
- 2021 Chevy Suburban
- 2021 GMC Yukon and 2021 GMC Yukon XL
Global B will be adopted by the 2022 Chevy Silverado 1500 pickup truck and its corporate cousin, the 2022 GMC Sierra 1500, as part of the upcoming refresh (mid-cycle enhancement / MCE) for those vehicles.
GM BEV3 electric vehicle platform
All of the upcoming GM electric vehicles built on the BEV3 platform and using Ultium battery and drive technology are also expected to use the Global B architecture, so it’s safe to assume that their chimes will be similar to (if not the same as) those used for the Tahoe. This does not apply to the all-electric 2022 Chevy Bolt EUV or 2022 Chevy Bolt EV, the former of which will have an earlier form of Super Cruise (without the Automated Lane Change feature) but will not use the Global B electric vehicle platform platform.
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Comments
The new one is almost as annoying, as the Ford chime.
I always liked the Ford chime LOL
Does anyone really care?
Yes I care.
If you don’t, then why are you here? Is someone forcing you to read?
I like the new chime. More character to it.
Buick Envision also has the Same Chime now as well!
It must be a slow day for you automotive journalists. 😉😁
Why? Because they are reporting about something unique and interesting? I don’t understand these kinds of dumb comments like yours. If you don’t like it, why are you reading and then commenting? Why even click on the article in the first place?
Great, now fix the cra$$y interior in the trucks! ASAP please!
At least not like the Ford chime… Worst ever. I wouldn’t buy a Ford just because of that. Also the built Ford tough graphic on their pickups, it’s like they have to constantly remind their insecure selves that they’re “tough”.
Am I the only one who found the new chimes to be a whole lot softer in the video? Too soft if you ask me.
alert sound volume can be changed in settings.
It’s not just the new chime, the old chime in recent models has a default setting that’s too soft when driving, let alone when the radio is on. That’s why a few Corvettes lost their hood, and it affects driver assist warnings. As Nebula says, you have to up it in the menus.
I like the new chime much better. I also happen to think this was a very interesting topic for an article and would like to see more like it.
Oh and that Corvette in the video was reeeeeeeeeeally low on fuel… hope they made it to a station.
They should make it the same as Ford, very soothing. Not the older Fords though.
Give me that annoying ’70/80 “missile buzzer ” that my grandfather’s Fairmont had..
yeah ok, but have they done anything with the horn chirp when you lock the doors.
Nope. That, unfortunately, still remains.
Come on GM….
does that even matter? You only get it if you lock the doors twice. I like it as it makes sure doors are locked.
If you are using keyless walk away auto lock, you’re not looking at the car, so you want to hear it. Worse, you’re not expecting it with auto lock because there’s a variable delay depending on parking conditions. The beepers used in other brands, particularly Japanese, is much less jarring.
Someone says “who cares?” and everyone is mad at that person. Why? Seriously there’s a lot more things to be discussed about a vehicle than what it sounds like when you get in it. Personally I think the consumer should have the option to turn off the chime. I need the lights but not the noise too.
If someone doesn’t care, why are they reading and commenting in the first place?
You think there are more things to be discussed? Whatever. Who put you in charge of GMauthority? They discuss all things, this is one of them… an interesting topic that should be discussed and brought to light.
It sounds weird to say this, but you hear the chime so often that it really is newsworthy.
Wheather I comment or not the point is and still remains some people don’t care about a simple chime. Sorry if it offended anyone because I said so but get over it.
New chime is better but wow. Listening to the old chime brings back a flood of memories.
GM stop with these hogwash updates. Build an electric pickup truck and suburban that will be on the road by Q1 2022 that doesn’t cost more than my mortgage, has autonomous functionality that doesn’t require me to sell off my children’s college fund in order to pay for subscription updates, and has excellent towing capabilities. Please have the interior reflect the calendar year and not my grandfather’s high school graduation year. Otherwise, I am buying a 2021 or 2022 F150.
You don’t get it.