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Yep! Just check out our docs: https://smartcar.com/docs/ https://smartcar.com/docs/ Would love any feedback you may have!

tijs 7y ago
The documentation only has a screenshot of the brands supported. Would be nice to just be able to lookup my car brand and make support in the docs instead of having to make an Auth flow first...
- dawnerd 7y ago
  Yeah... I went to their homepage and still had no idea what cars they supported, what features the car needed, etc. From my understanding though they're just a wrapper API around the car manufactures existing apis?
  - nickspacek 7y ago
    Found this eventually: https://support.smartcar.com/faqs/which-car-brands-does-smartcar-support https://support.smartcar.com/faqs/which-car-brands-does-smar...
  - danielvinson 7y ago
    > From my understanding though they're just a wrapper API around the car manufactures existing apis? Yep, think EasyPost for car functions
  - lars_francke 7y ago
    Agreed. The homepage is confusing and doesn't give me some of the information I need. The requirements/supported brands & models should be somewhere prominent on the front page, and I'm honestly still confused. Similar any country restrictions. This being limited to the US should not be hidden three levels deep in some FAQ. The Otonomo isn't any better though, it doesn't even seem to have any links to the docs.
- sahaskatta 7y ago
  That's good feedback. We'll try to make things more clear!
mrfusion 7y ago
How is it possible?
- LeonM 7y ago
  You will need additional hardware in the car to achieve this. Smartcar just does a really thorough job of hiding this fact. AFAIK the is not a single car manufacturer (not even Tesla) that has any API available. Most cars don't have internet connectivity anyway. Disclosure: I do NOT work for Smartcar, but have build multiple backends for P2P carsharing and bike rental platforms.
  - neoquisitive 7y ago
    Disclosure: I used to work for Smartcar. This is patently false. Smartcar does not require additional hardware. Quoting from their product page: > Our API works with the embedded telematics module built into most new vehicles. No need for aftermarket hardware like OBD2 dongles.
    - mrfusion 7y ago
      So it’s like builtin Bluetooth?
      - neoquisitive 7y ago
        through builtin cellular data
    - LeonM 7y ago
      Only a very, very small selection of cars support this. As it stands now, the documentation is very much misleading as Smartcar makes it sound as if you can use this on any vehicle. Look again at sahaskatta's response, he/she made it sound as if you just have to read the docs to 'unlock your car with an app'. But in reality, you'll also need to have a brand new and very specific car if you want to do this. Sahaskatta also asked for 'any feedback I have'. I gave that and now I'm being downvoted for my criticism...

tijs 7y ago

The documentation only has a screenshot of the brands supported. Would be nice to just be able to lookup my car brand and make support in the docs instead of having to make an Auth flow first...

dawnerd 7y ago
Yeah... I went to their homepage and still had no idea what cars they supported, what features the car needed, etc. From my understanding though they're just a wrapper API around the car manufactures existing apis?
- nickspacek 7y ago
  Found this eventually: https://support.smartcar.com/faqs/which-car-brands-does-smartcar-support https://support.smartcar.com/faqs/which-car-brands-does-smar...
- danielvinson 7y ago
  > From my understanding though they're just a wrapper API around the car manufactures existing apis? Yep, think EasyPost for car functions
- lars_francke 7y ago
  Agreed. The homepage is confusing and doesn't give me some of the information I need. The requirements/supported brands & models should be somewhere prominent on the front page, and I'm honestly still confused. Similar any country restrictions. This being limited to the US should not be hidden three levels deep in some FAQ. The Otonomo isn't any better though, it doesn't even seem to have any links to the docs.
sahaskatta 7y ago
That's good feedback. We'll try to make things more clear!

mrfusion 7y ago

How is it possible?

LeonM 7y ago
You will need additional hardware in the car to achieve this. Smartcar just does a really thorough job of hiding this fact. AFAIK the is not a single car manufacturer (not even Tesla) that has any API available. Most cars don't have internet connectivity anyway. Disclosure: I do NOT work for Smartcar, but have build multiple backends for P2P carsharing and bike rental platforms.
- neoquisitive 7y ago
  Disclosure: I used to work for Smartcar. This is patently false. Smartcar does not require additional hardware. Quoting from their product page: > Our API works with the embedded telematics module built into most new vehicles. No need for aftermarket hardware like OBD2 dongles.
  - mrfusion 7y ago
    So it’s like builtin Bluetooth?
    - neoquisitive 7y ago
      through builtin cellular data
  - LeonM 7y ago
    Only a very, very small selection of cars support this. As it stands now, the documentation is very much misleading as Smartcar makes it sound as if you can use this on any vehicle. Look again at sahaskatta's response, he/she made it sound as if you just have to read the docs to 'unlock your car with an app'. But in reality, you'll also need to have a brand new and very specific car if you want to do this. Sahaskatta also asked for 'any feedback I have'. I gave that and now I'm being downvoted for my criticism...