Data Items

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

Our Data Categories

Connected Vehicle Data

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.
Our connected car data catalogue grows with every new manufacturer. Explore the variety of data items available via our Auto API.
Our data catalog on Airtable contains technical information specific to each data category, including its properties and their production availability.

What Is Location Data?

Most modern vehicles have onboard GPS tracking systems and communicate using mobile data networks with in-built sim cards. GPS devices accurately determine the location of a vehicle and can be passed on to management or relevant services that can use this data in multiple ways.The core data which is communicated is the latitude, longitude, and altitude of the vehicle. Plus the travelling direction. The timestamp of this vehicle location data for accurately determine when the vehicle was in a specific location.

How Does GPS work?

Using GPS, modern vehicles can be tracked wherever they are in the world. GPS or Global Positioning Systems use an array of satellites which are continuously orbiting the earth. A GPS device within a car communicates with this satellite to determine its exact location. GPS has been in the public hands since 1983 with a long list of uses in recent decades.

Use Cases

Use cases can be:

  • Emergency services -get to where they need as quickly as possible to attend to the issue.
  • Insurance companies track their vehicles - making sure a policyholder does not stray outside of their boundary or time limits.
  • Fleet management companies - can determine vehicle journey time, length and live direction of travel. This can be used to work out when a vehicle is due back to base, how often it needs repairing, plus the average distances covered to work out component degradation and service schedule.