New skill for Amazon Alexa from Nissan lets customers talk to their car from the comfort of home!

Don't risk burning what is in the oven; don't dump out your bag in search of a key fob – you can now use your voice to remote-start your Nissan. Available later this month, a new skill for Amazon Alexa (powered by NissanConnectSM Services) will allow some Nissan owners a new way to interact with their vehicles.

There are now over 25,000 Alexa skills, and Nissan's connected car skill will be one of the newest. Riding on the popularity of Alexa, Nissan uses already-available features within NissanConnect Services to enable the new skill on some of its new and existing vehicles.

"Intelligent integration means helping our customers even when they are not behind the wheel," said Dan Teeter, director, Vehicle Connected Services, Nissan North America, Inc. "We are about bringing unexpected innovations to customers, and are excited to offer this technology to both existing and new Nissan owners."

Later this month, users will be able to find and use the new skill, called "NissanConnect Services," free of charge under the connected car category within the Amazon Skills Store.

It will be available on certain model year 2016, 2017, 2017.5 and 2018 Nissan vehicles equipped with NissanConnect Services telematics. Amazon's Alexa integration will require owners to have an active subscription to NissanConnect Services and a valid Nissan Owner Portal account, although the NissanConnect Services app does not need to be running to use the service.

NissanConnect Services and integration with the new Alexa skill, will be available on the following vehicles at launch, with more to come:

Nissan plans to expand the technology to other models in the future, including the new 2018 Nissan LEAF through NissanConnect EV and Services. Additionally, model year 2011 – 2017 LEAF owners will be able to check battery status, manage remote charging and cool down or warm up the vehicle's interior using the new skill through the NissanConnect EV and Services Skill.

How the NissanConnect Services skill works

Once enabled and linked to a valid Nissan Owners Portal account with a compatible Nissan vehicle, owners can use voice commands to remote lock/unlock, honk the horn, flash the lights and start or stop the engine depending on the model.

For example, owners can say, "Alexa, ask NissanConnect Services to start my Murano" or "Alexa, ask NissanConnect Services to lock the doors of my GT-R." Moments later, Alexa will confirm the request and the vehicle will respond to the command.

A 4-digit pin will be required to send certain commands to the vehicle, such as remote start, for added security. Additionally, owners can customize the name of their vehicle.

For more information on the complete Nissan vehicle lineup and available advanced safety, security and driver assistance technologies, visit one of seven Mossy Nissan locations or shop online now.