Tech Tuesdays: Road Testing the Latest Telematics Services from Ford and Lexus
Telematics has been dominated by OnStar since the service first launched over a decade ago. And while other automakers, including BMW and Mercedes, offer their own telematics systems, OnStar has become the Kleenex or Xerox of the field and synonymous with telematics service.
Even if most car buyers have no idea what the term "telematics" means, when they think of features such as automatic crash notification, remote door unlocking and other off-board safety and convenience services, they think of OnStar, thanks to the GM-owned company's massive marketing efforts.
But OnStar is facing increasing competition. Ford launched its 911 Assist service in December 2008 by including it on all new Sync-equipped vehicles, and owners of most '08 and '09 Sync-equipped vehicles can get the service by having a dealer upgrade the system's software for a nominal fee.
Meanwhile, Lexus -- a former customer of OnStar with its Lexus Link telematics service, which will continue in "legacy" mode on models still in service -- recently launched its Enform with Safety Connect system on the new 2010 HS 250h hybrid and, like Ford, plans to eventually include it in all of its cars.
While it isn't feasible for us to test the crash-notification aspects of telematics systems -- at least not with the press cars we drive -- we checked out the latest convenience services offered for Ford's Sync system and Lexus Enform that best compete with OnStar. And we found that while Ford takes a radically different approach, Lexus plays it safe but throws in a few unique features.
Sync Traffic, Directions and Information
Like 911 Assist, Ford's new Traffic, Directions and Information (TDI) service is an offshoot of the popular Microsoft-powered Sync system, and it falls under what Ford calls "Driver Services." TDI is currently available on the 2010 Ford Mustang, Fusion, Fusion Hybrid, Mercury Milan and Milan Hybrid and Lincoln MKZ without the factory voice-activated navigation system. And Ford plans to roll it out in other 2010 and future models.
As the name indicates, TDI downloads directions to a destination, reports on traffic along the way, finds Points of Interest (POIs) such as business listings and can also cull personalized news, sports and weather info. The best part is it's free for the first three years, doesn't require a nav system and uses the vehicle owner's cell phone. But that last bit is also the worst part. More about that later.
The car owner has to first activate the service on the syncmyride website (which Ford did for us ahead of time in our 2010 Taurus test car) and personalize TDI by creating up to 25 Saved Points such as a home and work as well as set up Traffic Alerts for these routes. Within a Manage Favorites section, users can select categories for news, sports and weather. News categories are broken down into Top Stories, Business, Technology, Entertainment and Sports News, while in Sports, specific teams and sports can be picked and in Weather a certain city, state and zip can be chosen.
While driving, this info is ostensibly at your fingertips with a press of the VOICE button on the steering wheel. When prompted, you say "services," wait to be connected via mobile phone and then say "directions," "traffic" or any of the three information categories.
To find a POI you say "business search" and then ask for a specific one like "Pizza Hut" or give a generic request such as "restaurant." Once you find what you're looking for, you can get spoken, turn-by-turn driving directions downloaded to the vehicle, have the info sent as a text message to your phone or choose to call the business directly -- all through voice control. And if this is all too confusing you can just ask "What are my choices?" and the system will give you a rundown of your options.
For the most part, the system worked as described above. While going through the initial demo with a Ford rep, I asked for Santa Monica Seafood and was impressed that the system returned two locations, an older one and a newer one, the latter of which may not appear in the map database of even recent DVD and hard-disk nav systems.
When navigating short distances around Los Angeles and asking for POIs, I never ran into any real problems, and the traffic info was fairly accurate. And it was cool to get personalized news, sports and weather info on command rather than searching for it on the radio dial, although if you have a favorite station or two you may already get that kind of info anyway.
But because the system uses the owner's cell phone it's only as good as the connection. As I drove through some of LA's coastal canyons, where reception is weak to nonexistent, so was TDI. And on several occasions when I requested routing and traffic info -- and needed it ASAP -- either my phone dropped the call, I got a crackly connection (except in this case amplified over the vehicle's sound system) or an "all circuits are busy" message.
Plus, unlike traditional navigation systems that access an on-board map database to reroute you when you blow a turn, Sync connects to an off-board server for mapping data. So it often has to reconnect in order to reroute you, which can be frustrating when you're trying to get somewhere in a hurry or you're not familiar with the area. Whereas I found TDI to be useful in areas I'm familiar with, a colleague at our sister site, Inside Line, had trouble while traveling in remote areas during a cross-country drive.
But since TDI is essentially a free service when you buy a new car (Ford estimates it will cost about $100 a year after that), in the immortal words of Elwood Blues: Whadaya want for nuthin?
Lexus Enform with Safety Connect
The Lexus Enform with Safety Connect system we tested in a pre-production HS 250h is a much more traditional telematics system -- maybe too much so. Modeled after market leader OnStar, Enform doesn't offer a radical departure like Sync's 911 Assist. And although it's free for the first year, after the trial period Enform with Safety Connect will cost $264.90 a year, or $139.99 a year for only the Safety Connect aspects of the system.
The Safety Connect portion, which will also be available soon on select Toyota vehicles, consist of automatic collision notification, emergency/roadsdie assistance and stolen-vehicle location. The extra Enform layer adds lots of conveniences features, although nothing groundbreaking. It's more an amalgamation of similar services already available elsewhere, but with a few unique features added in.
For example, weather reports, three-day forecasts and live weather maps for 150 U.S. cities are provided by XM NavWeather, which is also offered by Acura and is similar to the Sirius Travel Link service available from Ford. And the Cadillac CTS has had a similar feature for almost two years.
One difference is Enform gives warnings when severe weather is detected within 15.5 miles of the vehicle or within 60 miles of a programmed route. Likewise, the Enform system provides XM Sports, but Travel Link and Sync TDI offer a similar service as well. Only Enform adds on-demand stock info to the mix.
Enform also has a feature called eDestination that allows the car's owner to send a route directly to the vehicle's nav system using a web portal. But OnStar allows users to send a destination to a vehicle directly from MapQuest.com, and BMW Assist does the same with Google Maps and its MyInfo feature.
The difference is that up to 200 destinations can be sent using Enform's eDestination and organized into folders holding 10 each, whereas OnStar only allows up to five. Similarly, Enform has a feature called Destination Assist that connects to a live operator to find a POI and then sends it to the car's nav system, but OnStar has similar features: Turn-by-Turn Navigation and Destination Download.
One unique features is Enform's Lexus Insider, "audio casts" sent to the system that include tips on the vehicle, articles from Lexus magazine and announcements of events specifically tailored to Lexus owners. But since some may view it as spam, owners have the ability to opt out of receiving the info.
Despite it's me-too approach, our experience with Enform was overwhelmingly positive. I found that the connection was more robust than with Ford's TDI in remote areas, and I particularly liked the mouse-like controller that's used to operate aspects of the system.
eDestination makes it easier to set up a batch of trips or plan multiple stops, and Destination Assist is much faster for finding POIs and more reliable than TDI since you deal with a live person instead of a remote server. Because I tested it back-to-back with the Taurus, I asked an Enform operator to find Santa Monica Seafood. First she gave me the original location, and when I asked if there was another she gave me the new location as well. Again, I had to wonder if this would have been possible using a nav system with a map database that was even month's old.
The telematics space is expected to expand even more, with Chrysler and Mercedes planning to launch new systems within the next year. So we'll soon see if these competitive systems will challenge OnStar's dominance
And whether car buyers will want to pay the monthly subscription once the initial free-trial period expires.
- Posted by
- Doug Newcomb August 11, 2009, 3:00 AM
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- Automotive Technology, Car Audio and Electronics, Car Buying, Car Safety, Car Tech Tuesdays, Ford, Lexus, Toyota
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- Enform, Ford, HS 250L, Hybrid, Lexus, OnStar, Sync, Taurus
A comprehensive back-to-back review of both of these systems. Hopefully, Chrysler and Benz will be even more innovative when they release their telematics next year.