GM-VOLT : Chevy Volt Electric Car Site

On of the benefits of driving the Volt is the free five year OnStar subscription.  For the Volt, OnStar is particularly feature-rich as it monitors the health and functioning of the car and its components, as well as keeping track of its ongoing energy consumption.

I started driving my consumer advisory board Volt on November 11, and had been waiting for my first full month report to post it here.  I received my first detailed  full month’s OnStar Vehicle Diagnostics report on January 10th reflecting the driving behavior of the preceding 30 days.  The information is displayed in the graphic above.

According to the report, for that period I drove the car 3443 miles. Of those, 2432 were on electricity and 1011 were on gas, indicating that 71% of my miles were electric.

Overall gas fuel economy for the month was 114 mpg, and it was estimated that by using electricity I saved 103 gallons of gas.

A particular interesting number the system determined was that my electrcity consumption was 19 kwh per 100 miles. The system also claimed by driving the Volt 2,014 pounds of CO2 production were avoided.

During the month of January, the weather was quite cold and I used comfort mode cabin setting with a temperature of 74 degrees plus one bar of heated seats. I also drove mostly at highway speeds and experienced typical EV driving ranges in the high 20s.

I charged to full every evening at 240-volts and opportunity charged during the day at 110-v anywhere from 6 to 8 hours. It is known the Volt will draw 12.9 kwh of grid energy to replete the 10.6 kwh of battery power used for the full EV driving range.

These data confirm the success of the Volt as a highly flexible vehicle without compromises that can displace substantial amounts of gasoline consumption, utilizing electricity efficiently and less expensively to do so.

OnStar is GMs proprietary on-board connected communications system that operates via wireless cellular technology.

It comes standard on all GM vehicles free for the first 6 months.  In the case of the Chevy Volt it is free standard for five years.

The system is used to connect directly to a headquarters switchboard operator who can help drivers with directions and vehicle function issues right in the car using handsfree audio.  In addition to providing directions which can be downloaded to the car, accidents and emergencies are responded to, and cars can even be slowed remotely in the case they are stolen.

OnStar now in its 9th generation platform has been a very successful program for GM with over 6 million US subscribers.

Now, in what appears to be  brilliant business move, at the Consumer Electronics Show, GM unveiled a new product which is a standalone rearview mirror that is fully packed with the OnStar  technology.  This mirror can be installed on competitors vehicles enabling the driver same full suite of OnStar services.  The device is compatible with all the top models of most manufacturers.

The mirror houses the iconic blue button used to connect to the service and features include Automatic Crash Response, Turn-by-Turn Navigation, Stolen Vehicle Location Assistance, one-button access to emergency and roadside services, and hands-free calling, including Bluetooth connectivity.

“For years, thousands of drivers have asked us to get OnStar in vehicles that didn’t feature it as standard,” said Chris Preuss, OnStar president. “With the retail product that we’ve introduced today they certainly can. This move in to the consumer electronics space represents the biggest development in our business model since introducing OnStar as standard across all GM products several years ago.  It represents a quantum leap forward in our plans to grow our business and provide a strong new revenue base for GM and OnStar from which we can further develop our core offerings in the factory-equipped market.”

The mirror will go on sale in the Spring at the stores of GM’s first retail partner for the producrt, Best Buy. It will cost $299 plus an installation fee of between $75 to $100.  Service plans start at $18.95 per month.

In additional to the mirror, GM also unveiled some future OnStar will be capable of as it becomes empowered with the new 4G broadband wireless cellular spectrum provided by partner Verizon.

The futuristic features demonstrated in a Buick LaCrosse reasearch vehicle include the following:

Vehicle monitoring
Cameras mounted throughout the interior and exterior of the car allow remote viewing of what is happening in and around your parked vehicle through a smartphone or PC.

Impact detection
The research vehicle has the ability to send live video to secure servers in the cloud from each of its six cameras placed around the exterior and interior of the vehicle. This is triggered by events around the car, or by an application on a smartphone. When an impact such as a parking lot fender-bender is detected, the vehicle transmits a video clip – helping to identify the offending driver.

Home monitoring and control
Keep an eye on your home by connecting to security cameras in real time through the 4Home service. Control the thermostat, lights and other home systems from your vehicle – “preset” scenes allow you to condition your home when you leave, before you return, or when you’re leaving for an extended period of time.

Electronic User’s Guide
Learn how to operate and maintain your vehicle through videos streamed on demand to the dashboard.

Video chat
Make a video call using Skype to connect with family, friends or colleagues when the vehicle is in park.

Traffic view
A voice-operated navigation system goes beyond calculating the best route by displaying live traffic-cam images from TrafficLand to spot congestion before you get stuck in a back-up.

Source (GM) and (Verizon)

General Motors has relaunched its in-vehicle cellular-based subscription service OnStar to include new cutting-edge technological capabilities.  The new features are being rolled out to the 6 million current subscribers and revolve around a theme GM is calling ‘responsible connectivity.’ A few select customers are getting to beta test these features right away.

The company is testing new connected technologies that will increase a driver’s in-car connection to the outside world while at the same time not compromising safety.

“These initiatives are all about OnStar’s role in keeping drivers and passengers connected and safe,” said OnStar President Chris Preuss.  “Building on the rock-solid foundation of OnStar’s safety and security platform, we were given a clear directive to develop OnStar as one of the chief pillars in defining General Motors’ business going forward.”

“With the extremely high awareness and respect for the OnStar brand, we’ve created a long-term vision that includes new in-vehicle hardware, an all-new IT infrastructure and a host of new partnerships and services that provide the basis for growth,” Preuss added.

One of the new features GM unveiled includes the ability to update one’s Facebook status and to receive Facebook updates verbally.  The other similar feature lets users verbally create text messages and listen to them being read, a service called “voice-texting.”

The company also unveiled the MyLink service that lets smartphones act like keyfobs, and be capable of remotely starting, and activating horn and lights and door locks and unlocks securely.  This will now be available on Chevrolet, Buick, GMC and Cadillac mobile apps powered by OnStar, and are included in the Volt and Cruze.

These systems and services will all run on GM’s new 9th generation OnStar hardware and redesigned IT infrastructure.  This includes the Advanced Telematics Operations Management System (ATOMS) computing platform, which GM considers “one of the most powerful and comprehensive machine-to-machine telematics systems in the world.”  Also included is “new natural voice recognition, Bluetooth phonebook, improved navigation, the ability to work with advanced traffic management and severe weather alert services,” said GM in a statement.

A new marketing campaing called “LiveOn” accompanies the relaunch.  “The new campaign retains all of the core strengths of safety and security that OnStar is known for, but also adds the idea of ‘powerfully simple connectivity,’” said OnStar Chief Marketing Officer Sam Mancuso.  “The creative showcases how we provide our customers connectivity to all the things that matter most to them, like family, friends, social media tools and our OnStar Advisors.”

“One aspect of our business that will never change is our live Advisors who are just a simple button press away,” said Preuss. “They are what set us apart, and they’ll continue to be available 24 hours a day, seven days a week.”

Along with these new features GM has also unveiled its new OnStar testing simulator that will allow the company to evaluate how these in-car infotainment services could if at all impact driving safety.

The simiulator uses 360 degree high definition projectors and large theatre-sized screens.  Car interior mockups with infotainment options digitally appear before the test subjects as well as real-world driving situations outside the virtual windshield.

During testing, the subject “drives” the car while various infotainment tasks are performed.  The driver’s behavior and performance are measured.

“Within the next nine to 18 months, GM will aggressively introduce a wide variety of in-vehicle infotainment solutions providing smart, intuitive and safe technologies that will improve the driving experience,” says Micky Bly, GM’s executive director of Electrical Architectures and Infotainment.  “In bringing this technology to market, the one thing we never lose sight of is that driver safety remains our highest priority.”

/wait wasn’t Micky Bly just the Executive Director of Hybrids and EVs?

Source (GM) and (GM)

See the new OnStar commerical below:

The Chevrolet Volt offers gas-free driving for the majority of trips, the flexibility of limitless driving when needed, and the latest automotive technology.  In addition to that GM is referring to Volt drivers as the ultimate “connected customer.”

Tony DiSalle is the Marketing Director for the Chevrolet Volt and in this interview provides us with his explanation of what the connected customer is, and hints it may be less expensive than you think.

“Are you familiar with what we’re calling the connected customer?” asks DiSalle.

Yes, but please tell me how you see it.
Quite frankly its an important part of the overall customer experience and its going to be unlike in any other vehicle that’s ever gone to market.

We like to think about it starting in the vehicle with the HMI. With the dual screens behind the steering wheel and on the center stack that’s giving you the feedback, whether its power flow or battery life remaining or being very clear in terms of what the source of the power is. The very crisp crystal clear graphics. That’s one element or basic of connected customer.

The next layer starts to be enabled by OnStar. That specifically is the ability to press a blue OnStar button and having a destination downloaded to your screen-based nav unit. That’s a capability that exists in GM products today so its not unique or revolutionary for the Volt other than it is kind of a cool proof point to connected customer, and we’re going to talk about that in the context to connected navigation.

That is very unique versus the competition. The competition doesn’t have anything really like that, the ability to download the destination from the telematic source right into the screen-based nav unit. That takes away the most oftentimes frustrating or highest area of customer dissatisfaction for screen-based navigation where you have to pull the car over to the side of the road, put it in park, and type in the destination.

It then expands from there to the smartphone applications that we announced in January. So you’ve got the ability to download onto the iPhone the ability to remotely contact your car and your car is talking to you through this application on your smartphone and its giving you information like battery state of charge, and some really cool stuff like the number of EV miles you’ve driven, total miles miles per gallon calculated fuel economy, all of those kinds of things, and has the capability to reach out and notify you via a pretty cool notification platform if charging has been interrupted.  For example, if somebody unplugs your car to plug in a power tool, your car’s going to be smart enough to send you a text message or an email depending on which you choose to tell you that charging has been interrupted. You can program charging timing though that smartphone app as well. So it’s a whole bunch of capabilities.

And then it extends beyond that to a very unique owner site that is going to be unique in the industry.  You go on to the owners site and site and the car will talk to each other everytime it boots up.

The site calls the car and the car will send the website all of those things I just went through. You’ll be able to graph content off of that site and we talk about the brag bar which is the number of EV miles driven and you can share it around, and it will be a really cool connected customer experience.

It doesn’t end there. There’s a unique once a month dedicated Volt OnStar vehicle diagnostic email that is an email from your Chevrolet Volt that tells you how it is doing, that will give you the diagnostic information on the car itself, and will coach you in terms of how to get the most out of your Volt making sure that tire pressure is optimal and all of that stuff as well.

So we looked at this as a kind of a total connected customer experience.

The majority of those elements I just walked through are enabled by OnStar. The traditional duration of OnStar in a GM vehicle had been one year. We are going to extend that. We are going to have a longer duration standard in the Chevrolet Volt. I can’t tell you what that specifically is yet but we will. Its going to be more than a year.

So normally when you get a new GM car a year of OnStar is included in the purchase and then it becomes optional after a year?
Yes, that has historically been the case. And then you renew after that first year.

And that’s usually about $200 per year?
The Safe and Sound package is $199 and the Directions and Connections is another $100 so $299 per year.

And so for the Volt you will extend the free period?
Yes, and we’re going to have Directions and Connections included. So you will be able to download that destination to the screen-based nav unit that’s part of OnStar’s Directions and Connections package and so envision standard connections and direction for longer than a year.

I also understand you’ll be able to use Google maps to find directions and be able to download that to the car from your PC or smartphone too?
Yes. We’ve extended the Volt app. Now we’ve got a really neat cooperative effort here with Google where you can literally use Google’s voice engine as part of this Volt app and you can give a destination and literally say a place their nav engine will pop up show you where it is, where you are, and map a route. All on your smartphone.

Then also cant you download that directly into the car?
Yes, this is the case. It comes through OnStar and then onto your nav screen.

Recently we discussed a report that GM was in negotiations with Internet search giant Google to integrate the Android mobile operating system into OnStar and the Chevrolet Volt. That report was unsubstantiated.

Today GM has issued a press release confirming the partnership as well as detailing the current state of the technology and future plans.

As we know, Volt drivers will have the opportunity to download Volt-specific apps to their mobile phones which include iPhones, Blackberries and Droids.

Application functionality expected at launch include:

· Charge status display – plugged in or not and voltage (120V or 240V)

· Flexibility to “Charge Now” or schedule charge timing

· Display percentage of battery charge level, electric and total ranges

· Ability to manually set grid-friendly charge mode for off-peak times when electricity rates are lowest

· Send text or email notifications for charge reminders, interruptions and full charge

· Display miles per gallon, electric only miles, and odometer readings

· Shows miles per gallon, EV miles and miles driven for last trip and lifetime

· Remotely start the vehicle to pre-condition the interior temperature

The new partnership between GM and Google will be to integrate Google maps into the mobile app. Users will find a tab labeled Maps. Once clicked, the application will shows exactly where their Volt is pin-pointed on a real-time map and their own location relative to it.

The user can then use Google search to find a destination of interest, finding it relative to both their own location and that of the car. If they choose too they can then send those direction directly to the OnStar screen in the Volt from their mobile phone where turn by turn guidance can be experienced. It will be waiting for them when they arrive in the car.

GM and Google will be displaying the technology at the Google I/O conference May 19 through 20.

Apparently the functionality will only be available on Android phones (Google and Apple aren’t friends) and won’t be available at launch, but will appear in a 2.0 version of the app.

“These two new features add to the suite of mobile application features for Volt that given Volt owners a personal connection to their car,” said Tony DiSalle, Chevrolet Volt marketing director. “Connecting customers to their cars is one way we’re using technology to provide value and a real useful benefit to the Volt owner.”

Note: apparently GM has finally chosen a new Volt marketing director, Tony DiSalle, to replace Maria Rhorer who lost the position after issuing the now infamous Volt Dance.

Source (GM)

The Chevrolet Volt will come with GM’s latest 9th generation OnStar system already installed when it launches later this year.

OnStar allows drivers to connect directly to a Michigan-based command center for live interaction.  Directions and information can be downloaded into the car, and diagnostic reports can be uploaded to the center.

The new generation will have smartphone interfacing functionality, letting users control their car and receive signals from it via their smartphones.

As we have seen, the Volt will make extensive use of this through mobile phone apps that show real-time state-of-charge, time remaining to full charge, and fuel economy among other things.  Whether the car is plugged in can be shown and drivers can choose to receive an alert if they have forgotten to plug in.  The owner will also be able to remotely turn charging on or off, and for the killer app, remotely turn on  the cabin HVAC to condition the car from grid energy while its still plugged in.

But it gets better than that!

Reports are now indicating that GM is in negotiations with Internet search giant Google to form an OnStar partnership for Google-powered cars.

In the deal, which could be announced this summer, GM cars including the Volt could be deployed with the Android operating system, that Google has developed for smart phones.

The technology would allow the cars to seamlessly pair with a myriad of smartphones and other electronic devices as well as to pull and push data  from Google’s massive server farms.

Google maps, real-time data, voice and search services would then become part of the vehicular experience, along with access to online entertainment.  Undoubtedly, Google will also gladly store all of your trip information for you including drive routes, destinations, time courses, traffic patterns, fuel efficiency and who knows what else.  According to Motor Trend, Google data and the Android operating system would simply replace OnStar by making it obsolete.

The technology could expand functions beyond the vehicle too.

“We’re aggressively working right now to see how we can extend the OnStar business even beyond automotive,” said Chris Preuss, GM’s vice president of OnStar.

Of course all of this data could lead to driver distraction, a concern GM is serious about preventing.

“We’re not going to violate that safety and security tenet that’s a core of our brand,” said Preuss.

Source (CNN) and (MotorTrend)