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How OnStar Works

When you hitch your wagon to a star...

You've probably seen or heard the advertisements for OnStar—the General Motors communication system that alerts emergency services if you've broken down or had an accident. Not only that, it can unlock your vehicle's doors, provide, real-time driving navigation and even deliver stock market price updates (we're not kidding here). But who among us can explain how it works? How does that reassuring voice know your vehicle's airbags have inflated and you need help? We'll give you the easy version.

Telematics

OnStar is defined as a telematics service, a combination of telecommunication and informatics that provides data to a mobile source, much like your cell phone or PDA. To better understand how it works in relation to other hard-to-figure-out products and services, the system incorporates elements of GPS, cellular technology and onboard electronics.

GM introduced the system in 1996 as a user-friendly safety tool. A push of the button on a panel in the rearview mirror connects the driver with an OnStar advisor using fairly conventional, hands-free cellular technology and the vehicle's audio system. The GPS technology gives the advisor your exact location (by calculating the amount of time it takes for a radio signal to get from satellites to the vehicle's position), which can be relayed to the appropriate emergency service. If the vehicle is in an accident and/or the airbags deploy, the advisor contacts you then alerts emergency services. If injuries are serious, this advance alert can save lives.

The accident alert is relayed to the advisor from OnStar's Advanced Automatic Crash Notification System (AACN), which includes a component equivalent to an airplane's "black box," known as either an Event Data Recorder (EDR) or Crash Data Recorder (CDR) and part of the Sensing Diagnostic Module. Other elements of the system are front and side sensors, a cellular antenna in the vehicle's roof and the Vehicle Comm and Interface Module (VCIM) that transmits signals to OnStar's cellular network. It all sounds very NASA-esque.

This next part gets even trickier, though. As you're tooling down the road, the black box collects data, seatbelt use, throttle position, braking action, etc., every five seconds. The unit records and relays that data when the g-forces in the vehicle fall into the 1 to 2 range. When the airbags deploy, the system is on full alert and records additional information. This data is retrievable for about 45 days (or 250 ignition cycles) after it is recorded. Auto engineers use the EDR or CDR to analyze the cause of the accident and to make safer vehicles. It also helps reduce product liability risks for the manufacturer.

Availability

Initially, OnStar was available on the Cadillac DeVille, Seville and Eldorado; by the 2007 model year, it was standard equipment on all GM vehicles sold in North America. OnStar is also offered by Saturn, Audi, Isuzu and Volkswagen. While the equipment is built into the vehicles, the services have to be activated at a cost of $17 to $70 a month, depending on the options.

Sounds perfect, doesn't it? While OnStar does provide valuable emergency response and other services, there are a couple of glitches. The initial system was analog-based—a technology not as effective as the current digital technology used for cell phones. The decision was based on availability and coverage at the time, according to GM officials. In 2002, the Federal Communications Commission ruled that analog networks would sunset as digital networks developed more complete coverage. The sun sets February 2008, and those OnStar-equipped vehicles (estimated at 500,000 2002-and-older models) with analog-only technology will lose the service.

However, approximately one million vehicles, with analog/digital-ready systems, can be retrofitted, at a cost of about $15, and continue their OnStar service. 2006 GM vehicles incorporate a dual-mode (analog/digital) network that requires no retrofit to continue operation. GM notified all impacted vehicle owners in November 2006. Owners of vehicles destined to lose the service are not happy. Much like people who invested in Sony's Beta video recorders back in the 1980s, they have been left in the technology dust.

Who's Watching?

That's not the only glitch. With today's political climate, some concerns have arisen about potential privacy issues hidden in that little black box. For instance, during an aggressive road test, a driver for AutoWeek Magazine heard the ominous words, "Collision detected, calling OnStar" emanating from the Chevy Malibu's audio system. No collision, no airbag deployment, just a lot of g-forces through the slalom portion of the test.

This event suggests some scary scenarios: can that information (retained for 45 days in the EDR) be used as proof the driver is operating the vehicle in an unsafe manner in the event of a future accident? Also, since police departments can use OnStar to locate the vehicle if it is stolen, could the authorities spy on our personal activities in the same way?

The National Transportation Safety Board wants standardized EDRs placed in all vehicles; this move followed multiple deaths and injuries to pedestrians at a Santa Monica, California farmer's market when an elderly driver jumped a barrier and plowed through the crowd. There was no way to prove what happened—vehicle or driver error. Some say the most logical compromise between privacy rights and safety/law enforcement issues would be vehicle owner notification of the presence of the equipment and the possible uses of the information.