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3G -> 4G upgrade

6K views 24 replies 13 participants last post by  evtinker 
#1 ·
GM says that they'll do an OTA update of the Bolt's telematics, based on your VIN. I checked and the advisement was "press your OnStar button" They don't mention whether or not there's a charge for folks like me who don't have an OnStar subscription, but my Bolt is a 2020, bought new in November of 2020 and has about 23,000 miles on it.

Is there a charge?

As an aside, I find it more than a bit stupid on GM's part to not have had 4G capability from the start; the phase-out of 3G was planned many years ago.

What say you?
 
#2 ·
Last question first. 10 years ago, Bolt was being designed and 4G was just emerging in trials, 3G was state of art. They have made limited updates in subsequent years and the telematics are not customer feature focussed, nor data intense.

The fact that they claim a software update will correct things, suggests a 3G\4G\LTE radio was originally installed but SW limited to 3G. ATT provides the network for OnStar telematics and GM may have had a contract for low cost use of the (soon to be) obsolete 3G network.

I suspect there would be no charge for any updates, and that the updates will happen automatically. GM is keenly interested in tracking performance of EV batteries, particularly in light of the recall. There is no way they would ask you to pay for them to be able to track their product performance.
 
#6 ·
Last question first. 10 years ago, Bolt was being designed and 4G was just emerging in trials, 3G was state of art. They have made limited updates in subsequent years and the telematics are not customer feature focussed, nor data intense.
Are you saying that the Bolt's OnStar module is 3G? It's always been my understanding that it was 4G from the get-go and this whole 3G shutdown thing is a total non-issue for Bolt owners.
 
#7 ·
A GM document showed only the 2020 Bolt as being affected by the 3G shutdown. No idea why only that specific year, but that's what it said. Perhaps a chip issue back then for the 4G hardware.
 
#9 ·
A GM document showed only the 2020 Bolt as being affected by the 3G shutdown. No idea why only that specific year, but that's what it said. Perhaps a chip issue back then for the 4G hardware.
My guess is it applies to all years prior to 2020 and it was a misprint.

There were phones that had 4G radios that were SW activated, and used 3G until 4G was widespread. My assumption is the Bolt has a similar module.
 
#11 ·
I have a 2020 Bolt and I don't have an active OnStar account. I pushed the button, spoke to two different reps, and I don't think they have any more idea of what the answer is than I do. They kept saying cars made after 2015 do not need a hardware upgrade, but if they don't have an active account they may or may not need a software update at the dealer but they didn't sound very sure. When my Bolt is eventually made eligible for a battery replacement, (hopefully before next winter) I will mention OnStar question. Until then, I have more important things to worry about.
 
#16 ·
Another poster hit on this a little bit earlier. While most of the functionality is 4G, there are some 2020s that utilize the 3G network for specific functions, such as TTY. The software update will be all that is needed to make it fully 4G compatible. This is a total non-issue for any bolt that is NOT a 2020. Here is the GM bulletin from the NHTSA website.

Edit: As I look it over in more detail, it appears there is quite a bit of potential functionality effected...
 
#17 ·
There is no way they can software update from 3G to 4G as such. They might be able to open frequencies is all. They might be able to move features. The gizmo in the car is basically a cell phone. You can't update a 4G to 5G or a 3G to 4G phone.

I put my 2020 in and it said it was fine, nothing to do.
 
#18 ·
There is no way they can software update from 3G to 4G as such. They might be able to open frequencies is all. They might be able to move features. The gizmo in the car is basically a cell phone. You can't update a 4G to 5G or a 3G to 4G phone.

I put my 2020 in and it said it was fine, nothing to do.
You can, if both 3G and 4G hardware is already there. Service providers can then run on 3G networks for as long as possible, because it's cheaper, and then upgrade the firmware to use 4G when 3G goes away.
 
#23 ·
Well, I guess I can confirm that at least on my 2020 some of the functions are 3G. Today the time did not update for daylight savings time like it did every time before. It was set to update automatically from the cell system. I had to switch it to manual. I do not have an active OnStar account, and I have not had that system updated by the dealer.
 
#24 ·
Hmmm... If the clock updating automatically says that it's operating on 4G, then I'm good to go. A friend and I were going to lunch, and he happened to be watching the clock and SAW it update. I've noticed in years past that it always took a while, sometimes a couple of starts.
 
#25 ·
Okay, I give up. I now longer know what to think. I just went out, manually changed the time back, them switched it to automatic update from cell network. It immediately corrected the time. I am now not sure what GM is talking about. I don’t know if there is any 3G functions in my car or not. As far as I can tell, everything still works, including the MyChevy ap.
 
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