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Understanding Real Vehicle Data Freshness Frequencies

At Smartcar, we are committed to transparency about our data. When we report data freshness, we’re referring to actual data retrieved directly from vehicles, not cached information. Cached data can be returned instantly.

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What Does The Table Data Mean

  • True Vehicle Freshness: A frequency range of 30 minutes means how often the vehicle can safely provide new data without side effects. Even if we attempt to fetch it every 5 seconds, the data won’t change for 30 minutes.
  • Data Delivery: Rather than polling our API to determine when the data has changed, create a Webhook and Smartcar will send you data as frequently as it changes. It provides both the convenience of immediate notifications AND the reliability of truly fresh vehicle data.

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Why This Matters

Honest Reporting: We publish actual vehicle data freshness rates rather than platform latency rates that can be misleading. Developers need to understand the true age of the data they’re receiving to build reliable applications. When you come across promises of data “every minute” for a brand we show as 30 minutes, this often means you’re repeatedly receiving the same cached information at that frequency, not retrieving fresh data from the vehicle.
The values below indicate a range of how quickly you can expect to see fresh data and not how frequent you can receive data from Smartcar. i.e. You may request/receive odometer every three minutes from Smartcar, but its value won’t change until it is refreshed by the OEM.
Data Frequency: This indicates the frequency at which you receive vehicle data updates that Smartcar delivers to you via webhooks. This frequency can vary based on the vehicle make, the data type (such as location, odometer, or battery), and how frequently the vehicle is driven. In general, you can expect updates to arrive anywhere from every few minutes to once every few hours. While our slowest data rates for all OEMs is an hour, for many vehicles (including the fastest), when the vehicle is idle or “asleep”, no updates will be provided since no change has occurred. Smartcar automatically adjusts polling frequency based on vehicle status to balance timely updates with efficient resource use. While we aim to provide near real-time data when possible, exact timing depends on factors outside of Smartcar’s control, such as OEM behavior and vehicle connectivity.
MakeRegionData Frequency Range (in min)
ACURAUS, Canada30-60
ALFA ROMEOGlobal5-10
AUDIGlobal3-5
BMWGlobal5-10
BUICKUS, Canada30-45
BYDEurope1-3
CADILLACUS, Canada30-45
CHEVROLETUS, Canada30-45
CHRYSLERGlobal5-10
CITROENEurope5-10
CUPRAEurope5-10
DACIAEurope30-60
DODGEGlobal5-10
DSEurope5-10
FIATGlobal5-10
FORDGlobal5-10
GMCUS, Canada30-45
HONDAUS, Canada15-30
HYUNDAIGlobal5
INFINITIUS5-10
JAGUARGlobal15-30
JEEPGlobal5-10
KIAGlobal5
LAND ROVERGlobal15-30
LEXUSUS5-10
LINCOLNGlobal5-10
MAZDAGlobal5-10
MERCEDES BENZGlobal5-10
MGEurope30-60
MINIGlobal30-60
NISSANEurope5-10
NISSANUS5-10
OPELEurope5-10
PEUGEOTEurope5-10
POLESTARGlobal1-3
PORSCHEEurope30-60
RAMGlobal5-10
RENAULTEurope30-60
RIVIANGlobal3-5
SKODAEurope5
SUBARUUS5-10
TESLA*Global1 sec - 5 min
TOYOTAUS30-60
VAUXHALLEurope5-10
VOLKSWAGENEurope5-10
VOLKSWAGEN*US1-3
VOLVOGlobal1-3

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Notes

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* Tesla

For Tesla vehicles capable of streaming, 3 minutes is the average of how often the data is refreshed. Depending on the data point and how often it changes, you may see data refreshed faster. For vehicles that do not support streaming, Smartcar fetches data from the vehicle every 5 minutes when the vehicle is awake.

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* Volkswagen US

For Volkswagen vehicles in the US, 3 minutes is the average of how often the data is refreshed. For EVs, you may see data refreshed faster when the vehicle is plugged in.