Chevrolet is making it easier than ever for drivers to take a spin in its electric vehicle (EV), the Volt, without fear of ‘flat-lining” on some dark back road without access to a charger.

The Detroit-based division of General Motors already offers OnStar in its cars, providing subscription–based communications, in-car security, hands-free calling, turn-by-turn navigation, and remote diagnostics. Now it wants to offer a set of proprietary OnStar application programming interfaces, or APIs, that will transform the Volt — or any other electric vehicle in which the OnStar FMV rearview mirror is installed —  into a “smart car” that offers intelligent energy management solutions.

Therefore, OnStar, also a GM subsidiary, is opening up its APIs to give utility, energy company, and tech firm developers the ability to broaden the potential for integrating EVs like the Volt with smart grid technology.

Photo: OnStar Command Center (courtesy of OnStar)

“With the power of OnStar behind it, the Chevrolet Volt is smart grid-ready today,” said Nick Pudar, OnStar vice president of Planning and Business Development. “Now we need utilities and other companies to take the steps necessary to make smart grid solutions a reality for Volt owners.”

Pudar added, “At OnStar, we believe that innovation is fostered best through openness and transparency. The benefit of the approach we’re putting forth here is market-driven development of applications to best suit the needs of our customers.”

The set of smart grid APIs will be focused on a variety of recently developed solutions from OnStar, including:

• Demand response – This solution connects utilities to companies that have intelligent energy management products. These companies can use OnStar to manage energy use for Volt customers who opt in for the service. This future service allows the customer to save money on energy costs while enabling more efficient use of the electric grid.
• Time-of-Use (TOU) rates – OnStar can receive dynamic TOU pricing from utilities and notify Volt owners of the rate plan offers via email. Owners will be able to use OnStar to load the rate plans directly into their vehicle and access them to schedule charging during lower-rate periods.
• Charging data – OnStar also sends and receives EV data that helps utility providers without having to interface with the vehicle’s electric vehicle supply equipment. This includes location-based EV data that identifies charging locations and determines potential load scenarios.
• Aggregated services–With customer consent, this solution would enable electric service providers to manage the charging of participating vehicles in a given geographic area. This includes the ability to control charging on a large number of EVs simultaneously. OnStar recently showcased these capabilities on Google’s “Gfleet”—providing a Volt with a renewable energy signal provided by an energy management company, opening up the potential to alert EV customers when renewable energy is available on the grid for charging.

OnStar has previously used APIs to demonstrate smart grid solutions in cooperation with a number of utilities across the country."We have partnered with OnStar to demonstrate the ability to display our time-of-use electric rate on both the Volt dashboard as well as on smart phones,” said Haukur Asgeirsson, engineering manager for Michigan-based DTE Energy. “The ability to display the rate on the vehicle could help customers make informed decisions about when to charge their vehicles."

In January, at the International Consumer Electronics Show (CES (News - Alert)) in Las Vegas, OnStar announced plans to give selected developers access to a proprietary API that will allow them create mobile applications designed to interact with OnStar services. The smart grid set of APIs is among the first to be offered outside of the company.

OnStar services are enabled by its Advanced Telematics Operating Management System. ATOMS is the most-powerful automotive cloud platform in the market today, according to General Motors (News - Alert)— connecting to more than 6 million OnStar customers. Apps created using the API will deliver services and functionality in the same manner. Giving safe access to the ATOMS Cloud Platform is part of a broad 2012 growth initiative OnStar announced at the CES.

Developers for smart grid services can access OnStar’s smart grid APIs by visiting OnStar’s dedicated website.