I don't know what I'm supposed to get, but after my OnStar trial expired for my CPO Spark EV so that I had only Connected Access, I found that I could get state of charge by going to my.chevrolet.com (but not through the app).
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OnStar trial scam?
I have a new 2019 LT that I bought four weeks ago tomorrow. I got a bunch of trial subscriptions when I bought it (one for one month, something else for three months) for OnStar and data (and maybe something else). The one-month trial ends on Monday, three days from now.
Having no interest in paying a monthly subscription fee to use my car in a basic way, I just called OnStar and asked what I would get for free if I did not pay the monthly fee.
The first woman I spoke with was obviously in a department whose goal is to sell me subscriptions. I told her I didn't want a subscription to anything. I have a good cell phone plan, I like the way Apple Maps works on my iPhone when it's hooked to Apple CarPlay, and I have a AAA membership for roadside assistance. However, I do want to be able to check the state of charge of the battery remotely. Seems like a pretty basic function for an EV. (Remote tire-pressure check would be nice, too, but battery SOC is pretty fundamental.)
Since she didn't know what I'd get with the 10-year, no-fee "Connected Access" version of OnStar (which I presume used to be 5 years and called "Basic"), she transferred me to a technical-oriented person.
This new person had to do some looking up while I was on hold. When she came back on the line, she said the only way I'd be able to use the MyChevrolet app to check state of battery charge was to pay GM $20 a month for a "Protection" plan.
These seems to me like a protection racket, actually. I looked around on the forums here and found this thread:
www.chevybolt.org
But I didn't see any posts more recent than several months ago, and I could not figure out what people's current experience is.
So here's my question: is there any way for me to check SOC through my smartphone without paying GM $20 a month of protection money?
Having no interest in paying a monthly subscription fee to use my car in a basic way, I just called OnStar and asked what I would get for free if I did not pay the monthly fee.
The first woman I spoke with was obviously in a department whose goal is to sell me subscriptions. I told her I didn't want a subscription to anything. I have a good cell phone plan, I like the way Apple Maps works on my iPhone when it's hooked to Apple CarPlay, and I have a AAA membership for roadside assistance. However, I do want to be able to check the state of charge of the battery remotely. Seems like a pretty basic function for an EV. (Remote tire-pressure check would be nice, too, but battery SOC is pretty fundamental.)
Since she didn't know what I'd get with the 10-year, no-fee "Connected Access" version of OnStar (which I presume used to be 5 years and called "Basic"), she transferred me to a technical-oriented person.
This new person had to do some looking up while I was on hold. When she came back on the line, she said the only way I'd be able to use the MyChevrolet app to check state of battery charge was to pay GM $20 a month for a "Protection" plan.
These seems to me like a protection racket, actually. I looked around on the forums here and found this thread:
myChevy App Vehicle Info still work (even w/OnStar Basic)?
Quick search through thread didn't answer my question. For the past 5 days I've been unable to get vehicle info via the myChevy app (error is "Invalid user input. Please try again. (105)"). My OnStar 3-month trial ended Dec 28th but my issues started on Dec 26th. I have uninstalled the app...
www.chevybolt.org
But I didn't see any posts more recent than several months ago, and I could not figure out what people's current experience is.
So here's my question: is there any way for me to check SOC through my smartphone without paying GM $20 a month of protection money?
