My Prius has a few nice features, but the only automatic monitoring it has besides the annoying “Needs Service” light that comes up every 5000 miles is the tire checking feature, which checks the tire pressure. Automotive telematics is a technology that has been a flop so far, but it will do a lot more checking than this.
Imagine your car warning you of an icy road ahead, reading aloud the text messages arriving on your phone and sending you an e-mail that your fuel pump needs replacing soon.
Carmakers have already been marketing the technology as a safety boon, for instance by automatically altering rescue crews if your car’s airbags detonate, a so-called emergency call. Source: Reuters
The problem is that these services are supported by monthly fees.
“The consumer is going to think: 20 euros a month, that’s 240 euros a year,” said Hans Eric Destree, a mobile electronics expert at auto supplier Visteon Corp.
So, if you have one call every five years, that’s 1200 euros … much like an extended warranty, in general that’s not going to be used. That’s why it’s been so hard to sell this as an emergency service.
On the other hand, this could be used to report back which parts on a car need replacement. That might prove a boon to automakers to enable them to more efficiently stock parts.
Tags: Delphi, Car Parts, GM, Ford, Chrysler, Toyota
