6 reasons you need TELUS Drive+ (sponsored post)

I don’t own a vehicle new enough to come equipped with a fancy app. But thanks to TELUS Drive+, my car is now a smart car and works with my mobile phone to provide me with real-time vehicle information without even stepping foot inside.

There are too many features to mention in this quick post, but here are the top 6 reasons I’m loving my TELUS Drive+ experience:

1. I have a bit of a lead foot. So much that I need to use my cruise control even for suburban driving just to ensure I don’t get a ticket. Without responsive cruise control, though, it’s a constant exercise of button-pushing. Drive+ allows me to set speed-limit settings, which notifies me when I go too fast.

2. I have the memory of a goldfish. I have walked away from my vehicle with the keys still in the ignition and the car totally running. Not once. Not twice. THREE TIMES. (Man, that’s embarrassing to admit out loud.) Battery life alerts are one of my favourite Drive+ features. So even if you’ve just left your interior lights on by accident, the app will let you know if your battery is in critical condition so you can run back out to turn those suckers off.

3. I’m always telling people where to go. Whether it’s my husband meeting us somewhere after work, or shooting a rugby tournament location to my in-laws, Drive+ location sharing means I can quickly send an email or text to anyone and they’ll automatically receive my exact co-ordinates.

4. I am a bona fide helicopter parent. And with a kid who will be driving in just six years (cue the tears!), I’m going to relish the ability to track where he is with my car thanks to TELUS Drive+. You can even use something called “geo-fencing,” where you create custom geographical perimetres in the app; when your vehicle crosses the virtual fence, you’re notified. I talk a bit more about this here:

Beyond the terrifying visual of having a teenage driver in my house, I’ve already got a geo-fence set up to warn me if my vehicle’s being stolen from my own driveway. It takes seconds to set up a new geo-fence, so you could even do this if you worry about leaving your keys with a public parking attendant or valet.

5. I drive for both work and pleasure. Aside from chauffeuring my kids to piano, jiu jitsu, play dates and more, I also need to track mileage when I’m driving to events or taking business trips for my blog. My tax man said I should keep a log, but who needs old-school pencil and paper when Drive+ lets me earmark trips that are business-related with a single touch?

6. My kids love to be connected. My parents have WiFi in their vehicle and my kids obviously love when they get to go for a drive with Grammy and Grandpa. With all of the road-tripping we do, Drive+ WiFi hot-spotting gives up to five devices a gigabyte of shared data in my car on the super-fast TELUS 4G LTE network.

Here are a few of these and other Drive+ features in action:

It’s also worth mentioning that your mobile phone plan can be with a competitor. Look, I love TELUS; I first became a customer way back in 1998. But there are obviously other players in the market and chances are you might be with another provider. That’s OK! You can still install and use the Drive+ device and pair it with the TELUS Drive+ app.

Happy driving!

 

VIDEO CREDIT: Videos shot and edited by the super-talented Kristina Laukkanen.

DISCLAIMER: TELUS compensated me for this post. The opinions expressed and experience with Drive+ are my own. For plans and pricing, please visit TELUS.