GM recalls 64,000 Chevy Volts for shut off problem

[Doug_G]

Speaking of. The Tesla could easily phone home when the air bags deploy... does it? It's all software, so... 6.3?

It does phone home after a car crash. Many people have reported getting a call from Tesla a short while later asking if they're okay and is there anything they can do. However, they don't call 911 for you.

These days its questionable how useful automatic 911 calling is. Almost every car on the road has a cell phone... in most cases someone has called 911 within a minute or two.

 

[SabrToothSqrl]

Good to know.

While most people do have phones, not all air bag deployments are in a populous areas. (which does bring up cell coverage), but phoning home is better than nothing.

 

[Skotty]

The obvious solution is to add a key and lock cylinder. It's impossible not to know you left the car on when the key is still in the ignition.

I'm sort of joking here, but I like to remind folks that all this automatic junk these days that people sing praises over comes with certain downsides that people either don't think about or disregard. Automatic locks? Automatic car on/off? The Model S has both those features, doesn't it? Nice features, but let me ask you this. Is your Model S on or off right now? Are the doors locked or unlocked? You don't know. You might have certain expectations. But point is, you don't really know. You have to give up certain control and inherent assurances when you hand things off to automatic caretakers.

Back on topic, I think the door open chime is sufficient indication of leaving the car with it still being on. Maybe add a visual alert as well for hearing impaired? I wouldn't expect GM to do more, but if they do, it's a nice gesture.

 

[AnOutsider]

I'm sort of joking here, but I like to remind folks that all this automatic junk these days that people sing praises over comes with certain downsides that people either don't think about or disregard. Automatic locks? Automatic car on/off? The Model S has both those features, doesn't it? Nice features, but let me ask you this. Is your Model S on or off right now? Are the doors locked or unlocked? You don't know. You might have certain expectations. But point is, you don't really know. You have to give up certain control and inherent assurances when you hand things off to automatic caretakers.

Let's not forget what happens when you're in a non-Tesla. I'm constantly forgetting to shut off my wife's car when I'm forced to drive it. She shakes her head at me and jokes about me needing to remember I'm not driving a space ship... Once she's in the X, she'll get it.

 

[mknox]

And a hard pill for me to swallow now that I am out of warranty and have to pay a monthly fee of around $30 for the OnStar basic service. You need this just to use the smart phone app.

I am a super huge fan of OnStar and had it in my last two cars. I wouldn't dream of not paying the subscription for the service. The emergency services are well worth the price alone. I used it once when I slid off the road on black ice and another time when my mother-in-law had a medical emergency. They located me and dispatched an ambulance to meet me right at the highway exit and stayed on the line dealing with all of the emergency details.

It seems Tesla has all the hardware in the car to offer a similar package of services and I would be the first in line to sign up for a similar service.

- - - Updated - - -

These days its questionable how useful automatic 911 calling is. Almost every car on the road has a cell phone... in most cases someone has called 911 within a minute or two.

In a crash, a cell phone can be flung hard against a surface and broken, lodged under a seat or you might be unconscious and unable to make a call even if the phone were handy.

 

[AnOutsider]

I agree, though I think 30/mo is still kinda pricey. If it came with internet data too maybe.

 

[Doug_G]

In a crash, a cell phone can be flung hard against a surface and broken, lodged under a seat or you might be unconscious and unable to make a call even if the phone were handy.

I was referring to passerby cars, not the ones involved in the accident. Unless you're in a truly remote area, someone is going to call it in.

Yes there are situations where you might be in an isolated area, but realistically that's uncommon.

 

[Duckjybe]

I am a super huge fan of OnStar and had it in my last two cars. I wouldn't dream of not paying the subscription for the service. The emergency services are well worth the price alone. I used it once when I slid off the road on black ice and another time when my mother-in-law had a medical emergency. They located me and dispatched an ambulance to meet me right at the highway exit and stayed on the line dealing with all of the emergency details.

It seems Tesla has all the hardware in the car to offer a similar package of services and I would be the first in line to sign up for a similar service.

- - - Updated - - -

I should clarify that it is $25/month I am paying. If you want the Onstar emergency service then this seems reasonable but initially all I wanted was remote unlock and remote start with the app. It is a hefty price compared to what Tesla charges for those services - zero. Although Onstar does give you monthly diagnostic reports that Tesla doesn't give us. Also the Volt's remote access is quite slow and often takes a minute or two to connect. Onstar/GM went and changed what I thought was a great looking app complete with Tesla-like graphics. In the latest version they dumbed down all the graphics and colour. They are still not operating like the software is key.

With the Volt I wish I had some software update to wait for that seemingly everyone else had gotten. I wish I could complain about some new feature that was just added to the car that just wasn't good enough. I wish I could with the Volt but I can't. But I can with the Model S!:smile:

 

[mknox]

I should clarify that it is $25/month I am paying. If you want the Onstar emergency service then this seems reasonable but initially all I wanted was remote unlock and remote start with the app. It is a hefty price compared to what Tesla charges for those services - zero. Although Onstar does give you monthly diagnostic reports that Tesla doesn't give us. Also the Volt's remote access is quite slow and often takes a minute or two to connect. Onstar/GM went and changed what I thought was a great looking app complete with Tesla-like graphics. In the latest version they dumbed down all the graphics and colour.

One thing about the cost is that Tesla originally told me that I would only get connectivity for 6 months and then have to start paying. They've now extended that to 4 years (which is great) but still no idea of what the monthly costs will end up being.

Agree completely about the "dumbed-down" graphics and the often slow response time with the app. The earlier implementations actually used a modem-like interface over the voice channel (my first OnStar system was still operating on the old analog cell network), and I think the later 2G versions still did the same. Not sure if that explains the slow app response. I'm not sure, but would have to think the latest incarnation is actually using the data channel, especially since they now offer WiFi connectivity in the car.

 

[Breezy]

According to info from some usually reliable sources on the GM-Volt forum, some updates can be delivered wirelessly via OnStar. It's nothing like Tesla, but there is apparently some functionality there to allow this.

Data communication is by SMS, at least for Volts that don't come with 4G, and it's not very quick. I think also the system goes to sleep after a while so the first query after a period of time takes longer (up to a minute), then they are fairly quick (seconds).

FWIW the Volt comes with OnStar free for 3 years. The early model years had it for 5 years.