Introduced as a retrofit at the beginning of the year, Dataplug is now offered for free to owners of post-2008 Volkswagen vehicles in the United Kingdom. Bearing in mind the device costs almost €40 in the automaker’s country of origin, Britsish Volkswagen owners are lucky considering the no-cost nature of the giveaway.
Designed to deliver connected car features for vehicles manufactured after 2008, Dataplug is free in the United Kingdom until 2018. Except for the Touareg and Phaeton, that is, for reasons Volkswagen haven’t yet explained. The device connects to the vehicle’s OBD II port and to the user’s smartphone through Bluetooth. It’s a pain to set up the Volkswagen Connect app, but the burden is easily forgotten once the owner gets acquainted with the app.
The Volkswagen Connect smartphone app receives information from the Dataplug at the end of each journey, chiefly because continuous information gathering would drain the phone’s battery and dent the mobile data plan. The Trips function is arguably the highlight, offering vital trip information about each journey such as miles driven, average fuel consumption, and so on.
Then there’s Fuel Monitor, which gives an accurate figure for the cost of every journey by comparing the miles per gallon with the cost of fuel, be it gasoline or diesel. The function known as Driving Style offers advice on driving more efficiently, hence helping the driver squeeze more miles per gallon.
In the My Volkswagen sub-menu, the Volkswagen Connect app shows the fuel level of the vehicle at any given time, as well as when the next service is likely to be due. Additional functions include Service Partner, Assistance Call, Parking Space, and My Challenges. And yes, all of these functions are provided by the German automaker without charge to Connect users.
“Volkswagen Connect is an exciting addition to customer’s cars,” said David McMillan, digital service product planner over at the Volkswagen Group. “We know that our customers enjoy ease of use and Volkswagen Connect assists with this because it brings the information that is already available within the car to the customer’s mobile phone app," concluded the official.
After a 1:43 scale model of a Ferrari 250 GTO sparked Mircea's interest for cars when he was a kid, an early internship at Top Gear sealed his career path. He's most interested in muscle cars and American trucks, but he takes a passing interest in quirky kei cars as well. Full profile
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