Volt is the most connected car on the planet: True or False?

http://www.crunchgear.com/2010/09/09/the-chevy-volt-saved-gm/

The Chevy Volt is perhaps the most connected car on the planet. I can’t think of another even under development that offers such a variety of online services including the Nissan Leaf.

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True or False ?

I think Nissan has not marketing all the connected features of Leaf - as much as GM has.

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smkettner said:

Until connectivity is available through existing (no extra suscription) wifi I do not consider them connected at all.
So they all get a FALSE from me until I hear otherwise.

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Off topic. I'm only looking at comparisons.

Yes, the Volt is "connected" in ways that the LEAF is not.

For one, it is conected to the gas station.
Second, it is conected to the government (and taxpayer).
There would be no Volt except for the government "rescue" of GM.

Ah, but the Volt is never connected to DC Quick Charge.

Come on, guys, let's hear something about GM OnStar vs. Nissan CarWings. Isn't that what this thread is supposed to be about? (I have nothing to contribute, since I have never used either, never expected before now to use either, and don't even have a navigation gadget in my car.)

Nissan's global website had a little bit on CARWINGS, but not much. There was also this technical note PDF.

planet4ever said:

Come on, guys, let's hear something about GM OnStar vs. Nissan CarWings. Isn't that what this thread is supposed to be about? (I have nothing to contribute, since I have never used either, never expected before now to use either, and don't even have a navigation gadget in my car.)

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I too am unfamiliar with both services, but that won't stop me from speculating.

I have a nav system in my 2005 car which works very well, except that a map update (on DVD) costs more than an entire new handheld GPS unit - which might come with lifetime free updates from the Internet. Also the new GPS units have real time traffic data which they can use to reroute you around traffic jams to save time. I read that the Leaf will reroute you around traffic jams to save kWh. Some of the traffic services require a paid subscription, and some are free and supported by fairly non-intrusive advertisements.

http://reviews.cnet.com/4321-3430_7-6562611.html

Here's an old article on Carwings, which indicates it is responsible for navigation, audio system, hands-free phone, etc.

http://www.mp3car.com/vbulletin/rr-skins/115749-carwings-v1-0-released.html

I'm not sure about that video player feature. That's just asking for crashes and lawsuits if they leave that in.

1. Presumably, a major feature of CARWINGS is that it can provide
user-experienced traffic conditions. However, without many users,
will that feature be "informed" enough to be useful?

Will this "traffic" feature even be enabled in the USA?
Or, will all the "real-time" trafic information come via an XM subscription?

Where does the Volt's NAV system get its trafic info?

2. We have been lead to believe that CARWINGS will update our LEAF's
data on locations for e-fuel stations. Hopefully it will also tell us how
many and what kid of charging-spots are there, if they are working,
and perhaps even if they are occupied and how long they might be occupied.

Sure, if an L2 station is "busy" (conected to a car and charging), there might
not be any way to tell how long the car will remain there. If the car has finished
charging (but still connected), there is no way to tell how long the "spot" will remain
occupied. And, if the spot's charger is not connected, there might not be any way
to tell if some vehicle is parked there.

It is not clear how the CARWINGS system will "learn" about charge-stations.

What does the Volt system do?

3. How does one call for Roadside Service?
How in an area where the AT&T data service does not "connect"?

4. Monitoring Charging Status?

How does the Volt do that?

garygid said:

Or, will all the "real-time" trafic information come via an XM subscription?

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Looks like built-in cellular.

http://www.mynissanleaf.com/viewtopic.php?f=4&t=877

http://www.nissanusa.com/leaf-electric-car/faq/list/features#/leaf-electric-car/faq/list/features

Cost is $28-42 per year in Japan.

http://www.telematicsupdate.com/articles/carwings.pdf

garygid said:

Sure, if an L2 station is "busy" (conected to a car and charging), there might not be any way to tell how long the car will remain there. If the car has finished charging (but still connected), there is no way to tell how long the "spot" will remain occupied. And, if the spot's charger is not connected, there might not be any way to tell if some vehicle is parked there.

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The charger ought to know whether it is currently being used by a 12 kWh Prius with battery 81% charged, or a Leaf with battery 19% charged, and project remaining time accordingly. True, it can't tell you if the charging space is occupied by a Hummer. More likely the Hummer is parked diagonally across two charging spaces.

The L2 EVSE has no way of knowing what the car's battery capacity or state of charge is.
It can only tell if the car is connected, and if the car wants power ON, or OFF.

It seems like the EVSE could know quite a bit more than that, Gary. It could know how much current the car is pulling, and how long it has been pulling that, and if that draw has remained constant since it was connected, or if it has tapered off, and how long it has been since it dropped to a lower level or, if it is dropping continuously, how long it will be until it drops to zero. Those could provide some pretty good hints as to when it would be available again.

But Nissan's system isn't going to be running the EVSE, is it? At least I would hope that we could get information about charging points no matter who is running them. This implies some sort of centralized data exchange accessible from each manufacturer's system. So at least in an ideal world, an EVSE might report in:
"Hello, I am a level 2 EVSE at geo-coordinates xxx,yyy and was just plugged in at 14:21:36."
Meanwhile, a car could report in:
"Hello, I am a Nissan Leaf at geo-coordinates xxx,yyy and was just plugged in at 14:21:36. My current battery state of charge is down 7.8kWh with a predicted time of 3.05 hours to recharge completely."

Now how much information could you get, at least in theory, about when a charging station is likely to be available?

If the car participates in the info-gathering, and calculates (and "reports") enough info, one could know a good estimate of the SOC and projected occupancy.

Assuming L2 charges at a constant rate for perhaps 7 hours, only the "tapering off" would be useful. L3 stations will be occupied for a much shorter time, but it is only possible to determine the possible "waiting line" length if the car (and driver) help with reporting that "waiting" intel.
However, many EVs will not participate at all, and some not after their free subscription runs out.

Yes, a lot of combining of databases would make a VERY useful system.

I will need to know all the L3 locations, and their working/broken/locked status before I begin the 1100 mile trip to Seattle. Just the "nearby" locations (within my driving range) will not be sufficient "intel".