Chevy and Shell team up for in-dash fuel payment

General Motors Co.’s shop-and-drive Marketplace app is rolling out a new feature in Chevrolet vehicles, offering the first in-dash fuel payment function in a partnership with Shell gas stations.

The new service is available in the Shell widget, which is already featured on the Marketplace app with directions to the nearest Shell station. Now, after Chevrolet drivers select their preferred Shell location, they can also select a pump and start fueling all from behind the wheel. Payment is automatically charged to a payment method on file after fueling is complete.

“We introduced Marketplace to deliver value, productivity and convenience to our customers,” Rick Ruskin, Chevrolet’s senior manager of online commerce, said in a statement. “Bringing the Shell Pay & Save functionality right on the touch screen of our vehicles is the latest advancement of this platform, allowing drivers to simply access fuel rewards perks, activate a fuel pump and pay for gas while inside their car.”

The Marketplace app — a newer addition to GM infotainment systems that allows drivers to order coffee and food and make a restaurant reservations from behind the wheel — started rolling out via over-the-air updates in December in model-year 2017 or newer vehicles with compatible infotainment systems.

Marketplace is available on all 2017 or newer Chevrolet, Buick, GMC and Cadillac vehicles, but this new in-dash fueling program is currently only available on Chevrolet vehicles. It’s expected to head to other GM brands later in the year, available in some 4 million vehicles by the end of 2018.

The service is currently being piloted in Detroit, Seattle and Houston. A nationwide roll out, covering more than 14,000 Shell stations, is planned in the coming months.

The shop-and-drive Marketplace app is separate from GM’s OnStar connectivity system, which recently underwent a re-branding of sorts to refocus on its original safety and security messaging. GM’s vice president of global connected customer experience, Santiago Chamorro, said at the December launch of Marketplace that the app is also focused on safety, designed to be a safer alternative to using the phone while driving — though it doesn’t have voice-command capability.

“Being the first to deliver this type of in-dash fuel payment and savings to our customers is very exciting,” Sydney Kimball, Shell’s vice president of fuel sales and marketing Americas, said in a statement.

“At Shell we are constantly working to develop better products and services for our customers, and we are always evolving according to their transforming needs and expectations around convenience, quality, digitalization and service. We’re thrilled to be working with Chevrolet to make this a reality.”

NNaughton@detroitnews.com