May 23, 2023 , Auburn Hills, Mich. –
More than 1.8 million Chrysler, Dodge, Ram and Jeep® brand vehicles on the road in the United States and Canada give drivers an in-vehicle notification of an active fire truck, ambulance or other nearby roadway hazards with the Emergency Vehicle Alert System (EVAS) feature of the Uconnect connected-vehicle platform.
A standard feature of Uconnect that keeps drivers of 2018 model-year and newer vehicles safely aware of the environment around them, EVAS is an innovation that emerged from the Stellantis Star*Up program that nurtures and rewards employee innovation.
“The widespread deployment of EVAS in North America demonstrates how Stellantis is harnessing the power of V2X connectivity and in-vehicle technology to make mobility safer for our customers,” said Yves Bonnefont, Stellantis chief software officer. “Care for our customers that is second to none in every market where we sell is the foundation of our transformation to a mobility tech company. We’re proud to be the first global automaker to make V2X digital alerting a standard safety feature for our connected customers, and we are continuously looking to expand its capabilities.”
EVAS alerts come from HAAS Alert’s Safety Cloud platform, a vehicle-to-everything (V2X) and digital alerting solution used by thousands of public and private roadway fleets in North America. In addition to emergency vehicles, Safety Cloud receives and delivers notifications from tow trucks, disabled vehicles, work zones and arrow boards, highway gates and other connected assets and equipment on the road.
Building on the EVAS foundation, Stellantis is now evaluating a next step in V2X active driver safety notifications with Hazard Enhanced Location Protocol (HELP), working with Emergency Safety Solutions Inc.
HELP delivers warnings to drivers approaching a disabled vehicle. Disabled vehicles stopped on the shoulder or roadway pose a significant danger to other drivers, particularly at night or when weather conditions reduce visibility – a situation that in the United States contributes to a crash an average of every seven minutes and kills or injures more than 40 people per day, according to research published in Accident Analysis and Prevention, a peer-reviewed public health journal.
How HELP Works
When activated in a disabled vehicle, HELP sends a notice of the vehicle and its exact location to HAAS Alert’s Safety Cloud, which transmits a notification to approaching vehicles with Uconnect (or drivers using other mobile and in-dash systems connected to Safety Cloud.) This gives drivers 15-20 seconds of advance warning, which is roughly a quarter mile/0.5 kilometers at highway speeds.
With HELP, disabled vehicles will be able to share critical safety messages with all vehicles that connect to the Safety Cloud platform, unlocking a critical new capability in vehicle-to-vehicle technology and helping to improve road safety for all drivers.
HELP can be activated manually by the driver when the vehicle is stationary or automatically in safety-critical situations, such as collisions or tire blowouts.
A potential enhancement for HELP-equipped vehicles with LED lighting is the addition of HELP Lighting Alerts, which flash the hazard warning lights and other exterior lamps at a scientifically tuned rate and pattern to better grab the visual attention of oncoming drivers.
Foundation For Future Features
EVAS alerts, SOS calls and vehicle health reports via the Uconnect app form the foundation employing data from the vehicle to help Stellantis customers. Owners get enhanced value with activated SiriusXM Guardian subscription features that include stolen vehicle tracking, virtual driver assistance and cellular-based remote start.
“Technology we offer today helps set the stage for future vehicle innovations,” said Mamatha Chamarthi, Stellantis head of global software business management. “It begins with the foundation that safety should come standard. It grows from there to offer owners convenience features on demand when they connect, enroll and subscribe. These software capabilities result in an enhanced and highly valued customer experience with our iconic brands.”
Developing advanced technology that enhances vehicle safety and keeps drivers informed, including using V2X solutions and connected vehicle systems, is a key element of Stellantis’ commitment in the Dare Forward 2030 strategic plan to offer cutting-edge mobility in an aim to become No. 1 in customer satisfaction for products and services in every market with Stellantis operations.
Stellantis is developing STLA Brain, STLA SmartCockpit and STLA AutoDrive, three all-new technology platforms that will be deployed at scale across the four BEV-centric STLA vehicle platforms starting in 2024. The Stellantis software strategy targets generating about €20 billion in incremental annual revenues by the end of the decade, backed by a more than €30 billion planned investment in electrification and software through 2025.
HAAS Alert
HAAS Alert’s mission is to build lifesaving mobility solutions to make vehicles and roads safer and smarter. Our vision is a connected, collision-free world where everyone gets home safely. HAAS Alert makes roads and communities safer by delivering digital alerts from emergency response, municipal and private fleets, work zones, and connected infrastructure to nearby drivers through its vehicle communication platform Safety Cloud. For more information, visit www.haasalert.com.
Emergency Safety Solutions Inc.
Emergency Safety Solutions is a certified minority owned enterprise whose mission is to save lives by eliminating preventable crashes involving vulnerable vehicles that are disabled and stopped on or near active roadways. This growing safety issue affects more than 72,000 people yearly in the U.S., with 15,000 injured or killed. ESS’ suite of H.E.L.P. solutions provide advanced lighting alerts and digital location-based alerts to greatly improve advance warning communications to drivers. For more information, visit www.ess-help.com.
Stellantis N.V. (NYSE / MTA / Euronext Paris: STLA) is one of the world’s leading automakers and a mobility provider. Its storied and iconic brands embody the passion of their visionary founders and today’s customers in their innovative products and services, including Abarth, Alfa Romeo, Chrysler, Citroën, Dodge, DS Automobiles, Fiat, Jeep, Lancia, Maserati, Opel, Peugeot, Ram, Vauxhall, Free2Move and Leasys. Powered by our diversity, we lead the way the world moves – aspiring to become the greatest sustainable mobility tech company, not the biggest, while creating added value for all stakeholders as well as the communities in which it operates. For more information, visit www.stellantis.com.