Automatic Unveils New App Gallery and Car Adapter With Real-Time Data Support

[beanbaguk]

Not only that, but Automatic has a call center with real people on-hand 24/7 to assist in the event of a crash.



And that's included in the $99 without a subscription. For comparison, OnStar starts at $199 a year (or $20/mo) for the "Protection Package" that only additionally includes roadside assistance. If you have a crash once in five years, you've paid $1000 to OnStar, and mere pennies to Automatic.

They need to make this MUCH clearer! It's features like this that matter to me and I retract my first statement if this is the case.

I wonder however if they support the rest of the world or as per usual with these items, it's US only for the best features.

I'm really not interested in driving economically. My car tells me if I'm doing this already and quite frankly, it's hard to drive economically when you have 240bhp under the hood!

 

[elmateo487]

All the haters in this thread. Lol.

Anyways. I wonder.. With this sdk and now that the device has a gps. If someone could build an app that can real time calculate accurate mpg for any car, even if the car does not have that feature. Take the fuel consumption, and distance traveled and calculate it for the driver. Lots of gps devices do this is an fake way. And are horrendously inaccurate. But if you could bring accurate mpg to my old junky jeep Cherokee, with massive tires, regeared axles, a huge inefficient lift and a speedometer that is way off. That would be invaluable.

 

[ktulucom]

All the haters in this thread. Lol.

Anyways. I wonder.. With this sdk and now that the device has a gps. If someone could build an app that can real time calculate accurate mpg for any car, even if the car does not have that feature. Take the fuel consumption, and distance traveled and calculate it for the driver. Lots of gps devices do this is an fake way. And are horrendously inaccurate. But if you could bring accurate mpg to my old junky jeep Cherokee, with massive tires, regeared axles, a huge inefficient lift and a speedometer that is way off. That would be invaluable.

Wait, I thought you only rated a Jeep (especially lifted) in SPG (smiles per gallon).

 

[ziggie216]

You are correct. The ELM 327 works over wifi. Nonetheless, it works.
There is no need to jailbreak the device, just plug and play. The beauty of that setup in the Bluetooth remains free to operate the infotainment center with streaming music and hands free phone use.

but then I cant stream music that requires data transfer since all traffic is going through wifi.

 

[beanbaguk]

but then I cant stream music that requires data transfer since all traffic is going through wifi.

Yes you can. There is a simple fix to resolve this problem.

All you need to do is go to network settings and remember the IP address you're dynamically given.

Now go to manual entry and add enter the IP address and subnet (always 255.255.255.0), but leave the router IP (gateway), blank.

You'll be able to connect to your wifi device and continue to receive data over 3G.

Simples

 

[elmateo487]

Wait, I thought you only rated a Jeep (especially lifted) in SPG (smiles per gallon).

There we go! Someone else gets it. And oh man. The smiles are many!!!

 

[adnbek]

OR......
Why not go over to new egg and get the $16 wifi model (Google "ELM327 wifi OBD2") that works with iOS then just buy Dash Command for $10.
Spending $100 on something you can get for $15 is insulting to the intelligence of the members of this forum.
Don't be that guy.

You are correct. The ELM 327 works over wifi. Nonetheless, it works.
There is no need to jailbreak the device, just plug and play. The beauty of that setup in the Bluetooth remains free to operate the infotainment center with streaming music and hands free phone use.

Except that dongle doesn't keep records of your trips and driving habits (hard braking, acceleration etc.) with gps so can only be used for diagnostics (ie. raw data). Since it also uses the phone's gps, in the app or on the website, I can see all the trips I've made on an map showing exactly where I drove too fast or where I've been too hard on the brakes or gas. Pretty useful in improving my mileage or at least visualizing how I'm driving, for good or bad.

And despite using Bluetooth, I've never had a problem with using the hands free mode in my car for music, gps and calls at the same time while still connected to the adapter. Bluetooth can pair with both and one doesn't seem to interfere with the other from my experience.

 

[adnbek]

All the haters in this thread. Lol.

Anyways. I wonder.. With this sdk and now that the device has a gps. If someone could build an app that can real time calculate accurate mpg for any car, even if the car does not have that feature. Take the fuel consumption, and distance traveled and calculate it for the driver. Lots of gps devices do this is an fake way. And are horrendously inaccurate. But if you could bring accurate mpg to my old junky jeep Cherokee, with massive tires, regeared axles, a huge inefficient lift and a speedometer that is way off. That would be invaluable.

It does this already. My car has this function built in and the two results are almost always the same. Doesn't seem like automatic is using the car's built-in measurements since the values are not always identical but they're always pretty close to within 1-2 mpgs at the most.

Furthermore, you can see mileage for individual trips or combined to get an average.

 

[adnbek]

As an addendum to the two posts above, I've owned the adapter since December. Bought it on eBay at the time since I couldn't buy it direct in Canada. Only issues I've had were some sporadic connectivity issues at the beginning but updates to the app fixed those and I've never had issues since.

Also, my ODB port is placed just under where my left knee would be when I'm sitting in the car and I once knocked it out with my foot as I was getting in (or out, can't remember) the car, since the adapter sticks out a bit. The casing broke off when I kicked it and it ceased to function. Automatic was kind enough to send me a one-time replacement despite it being totally my fault. So my one complaint is that due to the placement of the ODB port in my car, I wish the adapter was a tad shorter. If your ODB port is out of the way however, it won't be an issue.

Otherwise, it's a neat gadget and highly recommend to anyone who cares to monitor their driving habits for whatever reason and for diagnostics should the check engine light turn on.

 

[J450NN4ME]

There's pros and cons to both. If you're an app/tech/gadget guy then the fancy stuff associated with the Automatic might be your jam.
But if you're a car person then none of that flash really merits the extra $100 you gotta pony up to play ball.
Buy whatever grabs ya, just be aware you don't need $100 to find out what's going on in your car's ECU. I do all my own repair, maintenance, tuning, upgrading on my car and wifi paired with dash command is all I've ever needed. If you're like me it's more than you'll ever need. But if you need Cupertino to remind you where you left your Prius, or tell you when you dwove a widdle too fast, then by all means...
Do your own research and don't let anyone sell you anything- figure it out for yourself.

 

[elmateo487]

It does this already. My car has this function built in and the two results are almost always the same. Doesn't seem like automatic is using the car's built-in measurements since the values are not always identical but they're always pretty close to within 1-2 mpgs at the most.

Furthermore, you can see mileage for individual trips or combined to get an average.

It is only close because it is easy to use default rated values from the factory to calculate your mpg. But if your vehicle was heavily modified it would be WAY off. I am guessing yours is not. Not to mention I emailed them after their first device to see if this is how they did it and they confirmed no. It is not. And that they would take into consideration my idea.

 

[adnbek]

It is only close because it is easy to use default rated values from the factory to calculate your mpg. But if your vehicle was heavily modified it would be WAY off. I am guessing yours is not. Not to mention I emailed them after their first device to see if this is how they did it and they confirmed no. It is not. And that they would take into consideration my idea.

I had the impression it was being calculated by taking distance traveled and amount of fuel consumed to calculate mileage, especially considering that automatic is able to get both readings. That would be the most logical way. It would be weird if they didn't do it that way, since they have both data points.

 

[J450NN4ME]

Also consider that not all cars have fuel consumption sensors to help either system (the car's ECU or the app) make that calculation. Depending on what sensors your car is equipped with, you might need to put all your fuel data in manually each time you fill up.
In my 2013 Scion, I have a dearth of such sensors. If I had bought a Camry (which for all intents and purposes is the "same car") I'd have more of that trip calculator gadgetry built right into the car.
Not all cars will respond identically to either setup; it has a lot to do with the car you plug the dongle into and less to do with the dongle.
Likewise, I'd assume that contacting the police in the event of a crash would have a lot to do with your 3G/LTE connection at that particular location. These dongles don't have SIM cards in them either.

 

[elmateo487]

I had the impression it was being calculated by taking distance traveled and amount of fuel consumed to calculate mileage, especially considering that automatic is able to get both readings. That would be the most logical way. It would be weird if they didn't do it that way, since they have both data points.

ODB II can obviously calculate milage. But bigger tires, change in gear ratios, etc all change how accurate your distance traveled is. So only a GPS will be able to tell you how far you have traveled accurately. Which they were not using in the first automatic.

 

[adnbek]

ODB II can obviously calculate milage. But bigger tires, change in gear ratios, etc all change how accurate your distance traveled is. So only a GPS will be able to tell you how far you have traveled accurately. Which they were not using in the first automatic.

Again, was under the impression it was based on GPS distance travelled. I will do some testing next time to see if the odometer readings match perfectly with what Automatic is reporting. Since it uses GPS to map your routes afterwards, I always thought it used it as well to calculate distance travelled.

 

[ktulucom]

There we go! Someone else gets it. And oh man. The smiles are many!!!

My TJ was awesome. I recently purchased a 2015 JKUR. I went from a coin operated rocket ride, to the space shuttle!

Yeah, I had to register on here just to respond to your other post

It's a Jeep thing...

 

[elmateo487]

Again, was under the impression it was based on GPS distance travelled. I will do some testing next time to see if the odometer readings match perfectly with what Automatic is reporting. Since it uses GPS to map your routes afterwards, I always thought it used it as well to calculate distance travelled.

The original automatic used the device GPS to remember your location when parked. But didn't have its own GPS integrated into it. And it would not use the iPhone GPS for travel distance.

----------

My TJ was awesome. I recently purchased a 2015 JKUR. I went from a coin operated rocket ride, to the space shuttle!

Yeah, I had to register on here just to respond to your other post

It's a Jeep thing...

Haha! I love it! Yeah I have a gnarly XJ beater that has seen it all. One day I'll have something nice.

 

[adnbek]

The original automatic used the device GPS to remember your location when parked. But didn't have its own GPS integrated into it. And it would not use the iPhone GPS for travel distance.

It is using GPS constantly to map your trips as well (see pic). I'm using the 1st gen adapter and as you can see, GPS (from the phone) is used throughout the trip. You could still be right that it may not use GPS to calculate distance, I don't know. But I know for a fact it is always using GPS for the entirety of the trip, so it may still be in the realm of possibility that it is also used for distance. No way to be sure except asking them.

Or I guess I can just go round and round in tight circles with my car for about 10mn and see whether the odometer and automatic still give similar readings.

EDIT: it appears you are right and no I didn't drive around in circles to find out, haha. In their support pages, they explain they use only ODB2 data to calculate distance travelled, not GPS. Of course, that could change in a future software update if they want to.

 

[elmateo487]

It is using GPS constantly to map your trips as well (see pic). I'm using the 1st gen adapter and as you can see, GPS (from the phone) is used throughout the trip. You could still be right that it may not use GPS to calculate distance, I don't know. But I know for a fact it is always using GPS for the entirety of the trip, so it may still be in the realm of possibility that it is also used for distance. No way to be sure except asking them.

Or I guess I can just go round and round in tight circles with my car for about 10mn and see whether the odometer and automatic still give similar readings.

EDIT: it appears you are right and no I didn't drive around in circles to find out, haha. In their support pages, they explain they use only ODB2 data to calculate to calculate distance travelled, not GPS. Of course, that could change in a future software update if they want to.

Haha. I wish you drove around a roundabout for 20 minutes. Lol. I see now where it says it. If they did that it would be amazing.