Chevrolet to offer unlimited data in OnStar 4G vehicles

DETROIT -- Chevrolet, which previously capped in-vehicle data usage at 10 gigabytes for $40 per month, is now offering drivers unlimited data for $20 a month.

The data plan extends to all Chevrolet models in the U.S. equipped with an OnStar 4G Wi-Fi hot spot. It will become available Friday, Chevy said in a statement.

The AT&T-enabled 4G LTE connection and the OnStar Basic Plan come standard in all new Chevrolet models with additional payment for data plans and OnStar upgrades. Chevrolet has been selling 4G LTE-enabled vehicles since 2014.

Chevrolet said less-expensive access to more data comes as drivers’ data usage “has increased exponentially.”

From streaming videos to using a laptop or gaming console in the car, Chevrolet passengers used more than 4 million GB of data in 2016. Vehicle passengers used almost 200 percent more data in 2016 than a year earlier.

“We have contractors bidding jobs in their Silverados, families streaming movies in their Suburbans and Malibus and everyone tapping into the cloud for music,” Alan Batey, president of General Motors, North America, said in a statement. “With the most affordable unlimited 4G LTE data plan in the auto industry, the widest availability of Apple CarPlay and Android Auto and new connected services like OnStar AtYourService, our momentum can only grow.”

Previously, Chevrolet owners paid $10 per month for 1 GB of data, $20 for 4 GB and $40 for 10 GB. A Chevrolet spokesman said the 1 GB plan will remain in place but unlimited data will replace the 4 GB and 10 GB plans.