The 2016 Chevy Silverado
Chevrolet has just announced OnStar Proactive Alerts, an industry-first predictive technology that enables vehicles to warn owners about potential maintenance needs before they occur.
The new feature will continually monitor the health of the vehicle’s fuel pump, starter motor, and 12-volt battery, and notify drivers if any anomalies are detected. The optional service is currently available for OnStar subscribers who drive a 2016 model year Silverado, Tahoe, Equinox, Suburban, or Corvette.
“Chevrolet is already the most awarded car brand in the industry, and Silverado is the most dependable, longest lasting full-size pickup on the road,” said Steve Holland, GM’s chief technologist for Vehicle Health Management. “With Proactive Alerts, we now can offer customers even greater peace-of-mind by taking the guesswork out of when to service their vehicle.”
Chevy says that the technology was inspired by the Boeing 787, which has the ability to send in-flight messages to ground crews and inform them of parts that need inspection before the plane lands. The system works by collecting data each time the car is started and continually monitoring it. Billions of pieces of data culled from across the fleet of vehicles are analyzed and refined, and if data indicates a car’s particular component is malfunctioning, the system sends the driver an in-vehicle notification and a text or email.
“Accuracy is the key to our prediction algorithms,” said Holland. “We will be able to inform dealer service departments so they can spend less time testing for a condition we have already diagnosed. They can replace the necessary part quicker and minimize the amount of time a customer’s vehicle is at the dealership.”
The optional Proactive Alerts system is offered with all OnStar service plans on eligible models, which Chevy says will expand to other models in the future. The Proactive Alerts will also expand to monitor additional vehicle components.
“A few companies are doing limited in-vehicle diagnostics, but none have yet demonstrated the capability we offer,” said Paul Krajewski, director of the GM Vehicle Systems Research Laboratory. “As we keep expanding the parts of the vehicle we cover, we hope to continuously enhance our customers’ experience, saving them time and money.”
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