Add starting your GM car to the list of tasks Alexa can take care for you
It’s very cold out, and you just want to start your car to get it warmed up without stepping outside. No worries, Alexa will do it for you. More than 800,000 GM car owners in Canada can now ask their personal voice assistant to start their car.
General Motors is the first car maker to enable Amazon Alexa skills in Canada. Drivers of most Chevrolet, Buick, GMC, or Cadillac vehicles built in the year 2011 or newer will be eligible to set up the new Alexa Skill.
The process is very simple. Just follow the same procedure as setting up an Alexa-enabled device in your home. If you aren’t sure, then add the skill using a smartphone app. Then link it to your car using your GM owner centre username. Finally, to protect access, you’ll need to set up a PIN.
That last part is important. To prevent accidental activation, the service uses a PIN. You’ll need to say it each time you use the service to start your car.
Like the remote start options offered by the car maker, the system has a 10-minute limit on runtime. Additionally, you can start the car remotely twice before you get inside and turn the key (or use the push button for push-start option).
Aside from remote start, you can also use the voice assistant to lock and unlock your vehicle.
As Autotrader.ca reports, the service is live now, and is offered at no extra cost to customers who already have remote key fob services activated through their myChevrolet, myBuick, myGMC or myCadillac mobile app.
For more skills available in Canada, click here.
