Verizon Vehicle can turn any car into a smart car

As exciting as it is to see vehicles becoming smarter and more connected, it’s difficult for a lot of us to justify spending tens of thousands of dollars on a new vehicle just to get access to some useful feature when our current vehicle works just fine. Fortunately, Verizon has the solution with Verizon Vehicle, a new aftermarket service that can turn a dumb car into a smart one, granting us the luxuries that come with connected cars without the need to buy a new vehicle.

The American telecommunications giant unveiled the new service at the Detroit Auto Show yesterday, describing it as a $15/month service that will launch sometime in April and will work with virtually any car on the market. This is the company’s first foray into the telematics business, and its entry comes at a time when the automotive and wireless industries are seeing an unprecedented level of collaboration. This is due to the fact that companies like AT&T see the connected car market as a massive growth opportunity.

However, whereas AT&T has been hard at work securing deals and partnerships with automakers such as Audi and General Motors to embed their wireless systems into cars, Verizon is skipping automakers altogether and going straight to the customers. Setting up the Verizon Vehicle service requires that you simply install an on-board diagnostic reader module into your vehicle and then clip a Bluetooth-enabled speaker to the visor, simple as that. The best part is that you don’t even need to be subscribed to any of the company’s other services in order to use Verizon Vehicle.

“As one of the largest communications companies in the world, we are dedicated to providing consumers with innovative technology solutions that connect people, solve challenges and inspire change,” said Verizon Telematics president Eric Goldman on the company’s official website. “Verizon Vehicle is a unique and truly holistic aftermarket solution available to over 200 million vehicles on the road today. It affords millions of drivers the power of knowing when things aren’t working well, potentially before a breakdown occurs – fostering a safer, smarter and more economical way to drive and maintain a vehicle,”

The idea sounds very similar to what Chevrolet is doing with OnStar, except that Chevy’s service, as well as most similar services, are limited to vehicles that already have a built-in cellular module, while Verizon Vehicle can work with any vehicle made since 1996. The service also provides users with updates on the health of their vehicle, send maintenance reminders, immediately connect users with agents in the event of an emergency, or with mechanics in order to provide repair advice. Anyone who’s interested in the new service can pre-order it at the official Verizon Vehicle website.