Out and about with Skoda Connect: Appointment reminders, avoiding traffic jams, refueling

V ome people don't sit at their desks all the time while they work or are in assembly halls and workshops, but are often on the move. Just like us - always on the go for measurements, test drives or other appointments.

For online grouches, the preparation of a business trip usually consists of checking the traffic information in the morning and then - because there might be traffic jams after all - to leave hastily. At worst, without coffee. Has to fit somehow.

Planning in the evening

But there is a different, better way. After logging into the Skoda Connect portal and entering the chassis number, you have a fine tool on your computer and smartphone - here thanks to the Skoda Connect app - to avoid unnecessary hectic on business trips or private appointments.

Yes A trip can be planned in advance by entering the destination, occasion and desired arrival time. When entering the destination, the system usually completes the address automatically if it is linked to a name in the address book. The app also notes the appointment in the smartphone's calendar. If you send the appointment to the car as a trip, you will find a reference to new online destinations on the monitor when the Skoda is started. Confirm import, press 'Start' - and the navigation system will search for the most ecological, fastest or shortest route to your destination if you wish.

But we are still in the organization phase, and Android phones are currently something of that more comfortable to use than an Apple iPhone. Because the Android operating system automatically starts a kind of timer function when the destination is sent to the car, which is only activated on the iPhone when the appointment is imported into the map app with another click.

At least : The appointment is now noted in the calendar and in the navigation - and like an attentive secretary, the smartphone sends a push notification on the screen to warn you to leave - including a rough overview of the traffic situation. To do this, it calculated the travel time using real-time traffic information and, if you like, also included interruptions for a break or for refueling. The wealth of detail in the traffic information, which can be called up with two taps on the Skoda's large touchscreen, proves to be very helpful: not only motorways and federal highways are recorded there, but also inner-city streets and secondary routes. That's not how you end up withAvoid one traffic jam straight into the next.

Save when refueling

Was there too little time for a refueling stop the day before? Occurs, but is not a problem. Using the online POI search, which also works by voice control with the top Columbus system (available in Kodiaq from 1,560 euros), Skoda Connect neatly lists petrol stations in the immediate vicinity and further afield and states the distance and the price per liter of the fuel in question Model should refuel.

A tap on the field for the refueling station - the phone number and all other fuel prices appear. One more tap and the address is saved or integrated into the route guidance as a stopover - including a recalculation of the arrival time put. Now only those petrol stations and rest stops that accept the respective petrol card are displayed.