[dpeilow]

As it says...

 

[Parax]

There is no timer for preheat, only for having the battery charged. You have to use the button on the key 10 minutes before you want to leave. (if its cold do it twice 20 minutes and 10 minutes before). You need to lock the car then hit the prestart button and hold it until the indicators flash and the side lights come on (about 5 sec).

hand tip: I have my spare key on an upstairs window sill so I can start it the full 20 mins before I leave without having to go downstairs for my keys.

 

[dpeilow]

Hmm.

I know the key trick, I've used it at work for a couple of times this week. However my garage is out of range at my flat, so I would really like to have it on a timer.

I'm pretty sure the US Volt can do this.

 

[Duncan]

The US Volt has a mobile phone link built-in so you can pre-start it from a smart phone app. They didn't see fit to include that outside the US.

 

[Paul_Moxhay]

Pity because it is included on the Nissan Leaf and it works well.

Will they introduce the equivalent of OnStar here? I think they will but it will not be soon.

 

[proddick]

The problem Opel/Vauxhall had was that "The OnStar service relies on CDMA mobile phone voice and data communication, primarily via Verizon Wireless in the United States and Bell Mobility in Canada" Changing OnStar to use GSM for Europe/Australia would have been a lot of work, so I guess that is why they didn't bother :-( Note there is a version of OnStar in China but AFAIK it still uses CDMA. More info - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/OnStar

Like Nissan, I suspect that Renault (Zoe) and BMW (i3) will be able to offer a better solution than Vauxhall in this area...

 

[dpeilow]

They changed the radio from Sirius XM to DAB... There are many cellular chipsets that support CDMA and GSM, so that's also not a real excuse.

I read that UK Chevrolets are getting some kind of live link next year, so infrastructure must be being put in place.

 

[proddick]

According to this article the chipset in the the current OnStar system only supports CDMA. It also explains that GM will expand the system outside of North America in partnership with Telefonicia.

http://reviews.cnet.com/8301-13746_...ies-telematics-platform-for-global-expansion/

I guess this might be something the "Ampera MK2" owners will enjoy...

 

[Paul_Moxhay]

Telefonicia own O2 don't they?

 

[dpeilow]

Yes.

I'm still not buying it. Changing the radio for a totally different non-US technology in very different frequency bands would be much harder than swapping out a modem module.

 

[proddick]

Most XM/Sirus implementations are a separate module as it is often an option. Therefore, (IMHO) to provide DAB they just added a module probably used in other Vauxhalls and interfaced it to the system. This should be minimal software effort but clearly resulted in a few bugs!

As no GM car in europe has OnStar, I can see that the cost of developing - particularly the back end and customer services would be prohibitive for just the Ampera.

[Just my opinion - you are all free to disagree of course]

 

[brewster]

'Open Vehicle Monitoring System' may be a good solution for non-US Volt/Amperas, (UK, Europe, Australia, NZ, ...) and I think it may be not too far away ...
SOC, Remote Start, Pre-heat/Cool etc.
I've actually sent in some graphics for the Holden Volt for Android/iOS app under development by some cluey computer programmers.
Lots of good reading over there if you are interested. Its a follow on from the system that they developed for the Tesla Roadster.

http://www.openvehicles.com/node/40
http://www.openvehicles.com/vehiclesupport
http://lists.teslaclub.hk/pipermail/ovmsdev/

 

[dpeilow]

Hi Brewster,

I follow the OVMS activity. At the moment, they have got State of Charge and a couple of other parameters mapped on the CAN bus, but they have not managed to do any control. Now that v2 hardware is out, they recon more progress will be made. The Volt/Ampera has multiple CAN busses and not all can be accessed it seems. Fingers crossed.

 

[brewster]

Hi Brewster,

I follow the OVMS activity. At the moment, they have got State of Charge and a couple of other parameters mapped on the CAN bus, but they have not managed to do any control. Now that v2 hardware is out, they recon more progress will be made. The Volt/Ampera has multiple CAN busses and not all can be accessed it seems. Fingers crossed.

I find it quite exciting reading the progress they are making - even though I don't understand most of the terminology
Its quite remarkable the time and effort they are putting into this project, and share with owners of these cars if they so wish.

Sourcing manufacture of parts overseas, a number of active programmers from different countries, there is a lot to like about the whole process involving such wide reaching resources for our eventual enjoyment.