Chevy Rolls Out Predictive Maintenance Technology On Silverado

[Gorehamj]

John Goreham
Contributing Writer, GM-Trucks.com
5/9/2016

Chevrolet is rolling out the predictive maintenance it has been highlighting in previews for over a year. The new service is an "opt-in" option for new owners of Silverado, Tahoe, Suburban, Corvette and Equinox. The way it works is the vehicle continually monitors the health of the vehicle’s starter motor, fuel pump and 12-volt battery. If an issue arises, the vehicle tells the driver to schedule a service visit. Called OnStar Proactive Alerts, current 2016 model year owners of the vehicles listed above who are OnStar subscribers need only opt-in to get the service.

 

Wondering why the Chevy vehicles with this new technology are mostly trucks? See our preview of this technology from last June to find out.

Interestingly, the system also goes beyond just the individual vehicle you own. Proactive Alerts takes in a small batch of data each time any vehicle with OnStar is run. Sophisticated systems analyze and refine billions of pieces of data, accumulated across the vehicles in Chevy's customer fleet. If the data indicates a particular model’s component is not performing as predicted, OnStar Proactive Alerts will automatically send the driver an in-vehicle notification, and either an email or text (configurable by the vehicle owner). In other words, the system is looking at all the vehicles of the type you own to look for issues related to that model. You benefit by having the dealer look at that system for proper operation when you come in for service.

 

Steve Holland, chief technologist for Vehicle Health Management at General Motors explained the benefits, saying, “With Proactive Alerts, we now can offer customers even greater peace-of-mind by taking the guesswork out of when to service their vehicle.” He went on to add, “Accuracy is the key to our prediction algorithms. 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.”

 

GM-Trucks.com reached out to Chevy's Monte Doran to verify that the system is included at no additional cost. Mr. Doran confirms that "It is included with your OnStar subscription. But subscribers must opt-in (on OnStar.com) to enable the service."

[tbarn]

GREAT!!! More Big Brother.