Data Items

Using telematics devices, cars can distribute data for many purposes for an end-user. Car data is created by electrical sensors linked to the ECU or Electronic Control Unit. An ECU is linked to an onboard telematics device which transmits live data. A user in a central location receives this data over the air, with an end interface that can be configured in a way that works for their business.Many attributes of a car can be transmitted live or at set intervals using GPS and mobile data networks.

Using car data, fleet management companies analyse their vehicles to help reduce costs, prevent maintenance issues and schedule service appointments in advance. Governments and councils can use car technical data to better manage traffic. Insurance companies can have real-world use cases for their customers and the introduction of smart cities with connected cars results in more efficient infrastructure. Most importantly, emergency services receive live vehicle data to accurately locate an accident, with automatic triggers to call ambulances if the vehicle senses it is in a severe accident.

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Our connected car data catalogue grows with every new manufacturer. Explore the variety of data items available via our Auto API.

Full Data Catalog

Our data catalog on Airtable contains technical information specific to each data category, including its properties and their production availability.

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What Is Diagnostics Data?

Certain parameters are set for a vehicle when it is new. Once a sensor detects a value outside its permitted range, diagnostics data will display a warning on the vehicle dashboard. This diagnostics data can be used by fleet managers, mechanics, dealerships and more to find and fix a fault.

Data such as oil pressure, temperature, RPM, torque, coolant level and more are used to determine the health of an engine. Tyre pressure, vehicle speed, and variances across tyres are useful to work out whether a vehicle has a puncture or whether the vehicle tracking is out.

Use Cases

Diagnostics data paints a picture for fleet managers to understand how a vehicle is treated and what vehicles fit a certain purpose. If tyre pressures are low, it could indicate mistreatment, or owners not regularly inspecting their vehicle. If the brake pad wear is high, then drivers could be misusing the brakes. If the engine load percentage is high, then the engine would be overworked and may not last as long as other vehicles within the fleet.

All of these are useful to work out budgets, driver behaviour, vehicle model reliability and much more when managing a fleet of vehicles. Fuel consumption can also be analysed to determine the condition of the vehicle and how businesses can be expected to pay for increasing fuel prices.