Script to start the Volt

[AySz88]

I signed up for the TOU rates with my local utility company at my house. They rate jumps up from $0.06/kWh to $0.35/kWh from 1pm to 7pm. Because of that I have the Volt set top NOT charge between 1pm - 7pm daily.

I also get to charge at work on occasion. I noticed that it would stop charging at 1pm (as it should), and I would go into the OnStar app and tell it to start charging again...but if I forget than I come back from lunch and start charging I get like 1 hour of charging, then it sits plugged in and not charging.

Would it be viable to change your departure time to 4 pm or something? Then the car will still charge at work. And if you plug it in after 4, the car will wait until 7 to start (if I understand that feature correctly). The only con is that if you use some juice in the morning, the car will keep charging 1-4 pm regardless of where it is, even at home.

[mikeg3]

I'm very disappointed at the number of true "hacks" I've seen for the Volt so far. I used to have a Prius, and people were constantly taring it apart to find different ways to "enhance" functions. Perhaps this will be a ever-so-slight kickstart to some of those ideas for the Volt.

Has anyone checked the Terms of Use for OnStar? How about for the Volt itself? Is reverse engineering prohibited?

This program works through the OnStar server. That server can track the actual location of a Volt and even stop the car dead on the highway. Given what I've seen of OnStar's applications, I'm not that certain about their security.

Do you really want someone hacking into code that's one hop removed from a two ton computer-controlled vehicle?

Not all hackers are nice people.

[GalinMD]

Have you tried the delayed charging override when you plug in at work? plug-unplug-plug switches to immediate charge mode. Not sure if it would stop at 1pm if you were in immediate charge mode.

Not sure I've seen that difference. I'll have to check.

Would it be viable to change your departure time to 4 pm or something? Then the car will still charge at work. And if you plug it in after 4, the car will wait until 7 to start (if I understand that feature correctly). The only con is that if you use some juice in the morning, the car will keep charging 1-4 pm regardless of where it is, even at home.

I tried this for a while, it was a bigger pain than just re-starting the charge at 1pm.

I know enough about scripting to see that it's probably a really easy modification to the script to do this...and just too little to actually make the change myself. I guess I'll see if I get a response...maybe I'll dive in to the world of VBScript.

[focher]

Has anyone checked the Terms of Use for OnStar? How about for the Volt itself? Is reverse engineering prohibited?

This program works through the OnStar server. That server can track the actual location of a Volt and even stop the car dead on the highway. Given what I've seen of OnStar's applications, I'm not that certain about their security.

Do you really want someone hacking into code that's one hop removed from a two ton computer-controlled vehicle?

Not all hackers are nice people.

Haven't read OnStar's terms of use, but they don't appear to have an issue with VoltStats.net and it's use data from OnStar. And that includes passing your OnStar username and password through the VoltStats.net service.

However, they appear to have decoupled the service into a "read only" and an "action" set of capabilities. Reading data only appears to require your username and password. Sending commands to the car to do something - like start up, unlock/lock, or beep the horn/flash the lights - require a PIN as a secondary layer of security.

But I'm also pretty sure that OnStar doesn't expose the "shut the car down" capability at all through their API.

[AySz88]

I tried this for a while, it was a bigger pain than just re-starting the charge at 1pm.

Hmm, does this mean that you have to switch back and forth (i.e. there are cases where you have the car without a full charge at 1pm other than at work)? There is a way to just change that time permanently, if not.

[Quas]

Awesome job on this - thank you!!

[Ron C]

All of this would be a lot better if OnStar would open up the APIs like they promised for "later this summer." On Saturday, it officially becomes fall.

[Destinet]

are you able to modify the script to control two volt in one onstar account?

[Ohm]

are you able to modify the script to control two volt in one onstar account?

In theory, yes - but I'm afraid I only have one Volt, and have no idea what 2 on one account looks like or how it operates. Does it work well for one of your two cars? Perhaps if you could send me the log files the script generates and describe the behavior you see when you log in (and how you change cars), I may be able to get somewhere with it.

[Ohm]

With Destinet's help, we now have version 3 posted to the first thread - now supporting multiple Volt's on the same account, AND working for Canadian Volt owners, complete with Canadian weather additions!

If you only have one Volt and you live in the US, there's no reason for you to upgrade at this time - but it won't hurt anything if you choose to. Just update the config section at the top and you'll be on your way.

I should note that having multiple Volt's on one account within the US has *not* been tested, though I have confirmed that nothing has been broken since v2, and I'm 97% confident that this will work for US owners with multiple Volt's as well. If not, let me know and I'll get it corrected (with a little input from you).

Thanks Destinet!