Implementing Telematics in Fleet Management for Vehicle Agnosticism

A Fleet Operator approached us to modernize their vehicle management capabilities by integrating telematics into their proprietary system. The goal was to improve operational efficiency and vehicle monitoring while ensuring the platform could scale. Because the fleet composition is dynamic and includes various makes and models, the solution had to work independently of specific car manufacturers.

Challenge

The primary obstacle was to devise a telematics solution that could seamlessly integrate with the client’s proprietary management system while being adaptable to any vehicle make or model. The client required a versatile solution capable of fetching comprehensive vehicle data and performing remote actions, such as starting or stopping vehicle charging sessions, crucial for a demand response pilot they were contemplating.

Solution

After an extensive discovery phase, we identified Smartcar as the optimal platform to establish communication with the vehicles in the fleet. Smartcar’s API offered a manufacturer-agnostic approach, eliminating the need to interface with multiple OEM-specific APIs, thereby simplifying the integration process and ensuring future-proof scalability. We leveraged Smartcar’s capabilities to access vital vehicle information, including the state of charge, among other parameters. Additionally, Smartcar’s API allowed for remote control over vehicle sessions, aligning perfectly with the client’s requirements for their demand response initiative.

The first step involved developing an intermediary API that acted as a bridge between the Smartcar API and the client’s existing fleet management system. This API was designed to authenticate, fetch, and interpret data from vehicles, presenting it in a unified format that was easy to integrate into existing systems. The implementation phase proceeded smoothly, with thorough testing and validation. The intermediary API proved to be a pivotal component, enabling real-time data exchange and ensuring the system’s adaptability to various vehicle models and makes.

Introduction to Smartcar

Smartcar is the first API platform for connected cars, enabling efficient communication between software applications and vehicles without the need for additional hardware. A connected car is a vehicle with built-in internet connectivity, provided by an embedded cellular modem that supports 3G, 4G, or 5G internet access. Smartcar has partnerships and integrations with various car manufacturers, allowing their API to interface with vehicles through the manufacturers’ systems. This communication leverages the embedded cellular modems in modern vehicles to ensure reliable internet connectivity.

Authentication

Before integrating our API with Smartcar’s technology, there are a few things to be done first:

Create a Smartcar account: The developers first need to register their application to the official Smartcar website by creating an account. By doing this, the platform provides them with credentials (client_id and client_secret) that they’ll use further on for the OAuth code flow.
Register your vehicle: Using these credentials, the user can now register their vehicle on the Smartcar Connect platform.
Get your authentication code: By giving the platform permissions to access their vehicle’s data, the platform then provides an authentication code back to our API.
Exchange the authentication code for your access token: This authentication code is now used to send a request to the Smartcar’s API for identification purposes. After the platform has identified our API, they send back an access token which we’ll use when we want to retrieve data from their API.

Our API

The following functionalities are implemented in our API by utilizing Smartcar’s API:

Control Charge: Control the charging state of a vehicle by sending a request for starting or stopping a session.
Location: Get the current location of the vehicle.
Home Location: Set the user’s home location coordinates.
Charge Status: Check if the vehicle is actively charging.
Battery Level: Get the current battery charge percentage and the estimated remaining distance the vehicle can travel powered by its high voltage battery (range).
Fuel Tank: Get the status of the remaining fuel from the vehicle (if the vehicle is hybrid) as well as the amount of fuel and the estimated remaining distance the car can travel.
Tire Pressure: Get the air pressure of each of the vehicle’s tires.

Use Cases

At the moment our API is successfully consuming this data and covers the following use case scenarios:

Fuel Tank Status: The dashboard displays the current fuel level for the vehicles that contain a fuel tank, allowing users to easily monitor the amount of fuel remaining in their vehicle’s tank.

Tire Pressure Monitoring: Each tire’s air pressure is presented on the user’s dashboard, providing a clear view of the vehicle’s tire health and safety status.

Home Coordinates Configuration: Users have the ability to set their home coordinates within the dashboard. This feature enables precise calculations for journey planning and charging schedules.

Live Location: The dashboard tracks and displays the vehicle’s live location, offering real-time updates for enhanced user convenience.

Battery Level: The dashboard also displays the battery’s charge percentage along with the estimated range in kilometers, giving users a general view of their vehicle’s battery status.

Start/Stop Session: Users can start or stop their vehicle’s charging session directly from the dashboard.

Potential use cases that can be covered in the future:

Maintenance Reminder: Using the Oil Life and Tire Pressure endpoints to alert the user when it’s time for vehicle maintenance.

Remote Access: Using the Lock/Unlock and Lock Status endpoints to allow users to lock or unlock their vehicle remotely.

Smart Parking: With the Vehicle Location and Lock Status endpoints, the app can remember where the vehicle is parked and whether it is securely locked.

Low Battery Alert: Using the vehicle’s Battery Level endpoint to send a notification to the user’s smartphone when the battery drops below a certain percentage.

Charge Prediction: By analyzing the data from the Battery Level endpoint, which provides the percentage of battery remaining and the estimated range in kilometers, this system can predict when the vehicle will likely require charging.