Opel is introducing its new vehicle connectivity system – comprising real-time emergency response, vehicle diagnostics and high speed wifi – to Irish customer from September. The OnStar system offers a range of services via a 24-hour connection to staff at the car firm's new service centre in Luton, England.

Alongside the traditional roadside breakdown assistance service, one of the main features is its emergency response function, where staff at the control centre are automatically alerted if airbags are deployed or if sensors throughout the car record damage. They can also be contacted via the OnStar or the SOS button, if for example the driver takes ill and needs help or is witness to a crash involving other vehicles.

Representatives at the centre, speaking in the chosen language of the vehicle’s owner, will then contact the vehicle to determine if help is required, either emergency services or breakdown recovery.

If there is no response emergency services are immediately sent to the exact location of the vehicle.

According to Jon Hyde, director of international operations: “This is real-life stuff, saving lives. If things run the normal course, responders would have taken longer to get to the location. The key is to get responders to the site as fast as they can.

“With the tech we also get info on the scale of the crash and data on the damage, so you can identify whether it’s a side-on collision for example.”

Vehicle recovery The service also allows for rapid vehicle recovery if the car is stolen. OnStar staff assist gardaí in locating the vehicle and can also send a remote signal to the vehicle that blocks the engine from starting again once it is reported stolen.

Other features include monthly diagnostics on the vehicle, a smartphone app that lets you remotely check diagnostics, locate the vehicle or plan a route on your smartphone and upload it to the car’s sat-nav. From 2016 OnStar will also feature enhanced 4G wifi for up to seven devices.

The system will be free of charge for the first 12 months of ownership and €99 a year after that. This cost also includes roadside breakdown assistance cover for the year.

It will be introduced first on the new Astra and will come as standard on mid-range to high-end equipment levels on other models in the range, from Opel’s Adam city car, Corsa, Insignia, Meriva and Zafira.

“Unlike competitors with similar systems we are rolling it out across the vehicle portfolio,” says Hyde. “This service is good for everyone, not just high-end cars.”

Initially the 4G wifi hotspot system will be unlimited for up to seven devices when it is rolled out in 2016, with data packages being introduced as charging begins. In the US there is a 50 per cent sign-up for the system after the 12-month free period.

Rollout The introduction to Ireland is part of a rollout across 13 European countries, but the system has been offered to North American customers of Opel’s parent company General Motors for the past 19 years. There it has more than 7 million users with more than 5,000 automatic crash responses per month and averaging two calls every second to its US control centre. Opel expects to sign up 1 million European customers per year to the service.

At its new European control centre in Luton 120 staff catering for customers in up to eight languages are preparing for launch.

“During ramp-up, between August and year-end, we expect to take around 90,000 calls before growing to 400,000 calls next year,” says Brian McCreavy, OnStar’s region manager, Europe.

The heart of the operation is a Nasa-style command centre with big screens illustrating a large map of Europe where each dot symbolises the location of a car where the driver has pressed the OnStar button.

Given the concerns about data privacy in Europe, Opel has introduced a privacy button located alongside the OnStar button, allowing owners to mask their location. With the high level of data being collected Opel says it will release data to authorities on the back of a court order.

According to Hyde one of the key features of the system is having a human support to answer your queries and offer advice at the click of a button.

While the focus of the OnStar European rollout is on the emergency service and diagnostics, OnStar staff are on call to answer other location services, such as identifying nearby restaurants and entering information into the sat-nav system.