Ford has chosen communications giant AT&T as the provider of wireless connectivity for its first all-electric passenger car -the Ford Focus Electric.
Through the new MyFord Mobile smartphone app, using the embedded AT&T wireless connection, Ford Focus Electric vehicle owners will have the ability to send and receive data about their car providing command and control of vehicle settings while away from it.
MyFord Mobile technology provides Focus Electric owners in North America with a powerful tool to stay connected, monitor and control their vehicle. Through a smartphone app or secure website, MyFord Mobile invites Focus Electric owners to plan trips, monitor the vehicle’s state of charge, receive various alerts for vehicle charging, as well as provides several other features designed to simplify the electric vehicle ownership experience.
“With a wireless connection, we’re putting battery charge and vehicle range information, along with an interactive, data-driven trip planning app, directly at the fingertips of our customers,” said Ed Pleet, product and business manager for Ford Connected Services.
At launch, the MyFord Mobile app will be available for most major smartphones, along with a mobile web application for compatibility with any phone supporting HTML-5 browser-based access, or feature phones with WAP 2.0-supported browsers. The feature also is accessible via a secure Ford website.
Owners will use the smartphone to communicate with a cloud-based highly secure server, which stores information provided by the embedded wireless module in Focus Electric. Using a cloud-based architecture ensures users will have up-to-the-minute access to information through the AT&T wireless network.
MyFord Mobile will connect through the AT&T network, allowing the car to communicate off-board through standard wireless technology. From an internet connected mobile phone or computer, owners can:
• Find current and projected state of charge information including estimated range and the amount of charge time necessary for additional distances
• Program vehicle charging with utility input, allowing the car to start charging immediately or when electricity prices are lowest with the value charging feature, powered by Microsoft
• Features powered by MapQuest available on the MyFord smartphone app:
o Locate charging stations and get the destination sent to the vehicle
o Know if the vehicle can reach a specific charge station from its current location with the current charge level
o Create a journey with multiple stops, and determine the likelihood that the car has adequate charge for the full journey
o Find the car by creating a route from a mobile phone to the vehicle
• Receive alerts if the vehicle isn’t charging when it’s scheduled to, or if charging stops unexpectedly due to a power outage, plug removal or other event
• Receive alerts during recharge when the vehicle has reached a particular preset charge level or has the ability to reach a particular destination
• Engage remote vehicle preconditioning, using grid power to heat or cool the vehicle interior
• Remotely lock/unlock doors
• Use the built-in GPS system to locate the car
• Download performance and system data
• Fun ways of understanding your driver behavior, with ratings from ‘Zen’ to ‘Zippy’
• Receive information personalized to the driver, depending on which key the driver used
