General Motors on Monday opened the doors to the OnStar EV Lab in Detroit, a testing center for in-car communications the company hopes will give its electric Chevy Volt more high-tech appeal.

The OnStar EV Lab, housed in GM’s downtown Detroit corporate headquarters, is now using the OnStar communications system to gather data on 19 Chevy Volt vehicles for engineering purposes. The same technology will give consumers the ability to tap online services and perform tasks specific to a plug-in electric vehicle, company executives said.

When GM releases the Volt at the end of next year, consumers will be able to program when to charge the vehicle much like they operate home heating and cooling system, said Tony Posawatz, the vehicle line director for the Chevy Volt. GM is considering more advanced features as well, such as demand response where car charging slows down during peak times in exchange for lower rates from the utility.

“The car will have to talk to the grid and be able to pull very sensitive (utility) data,” Posawatz said. “Electric vehicle customers want to manage their energy–they’re very into data. OnStar is an enabling tool for us.”

The OnStar system could broker communications with the utility so that consumers can charge at off-peak times, such as the middle of the night, and potentially take advantage of lower rates. “Smart charging,” or charging at off-peak times, is important to manage so that plug-in electric vehicles don’t add to peak-time electricity demand. In the near term, utility executives say the biggest concern is that many cars in one local area will tax one particular electricity distribution point. More