Our latest updates include new compatibility with an iconic brand, additional vehicle compatibility in Canada, endpoint upgrades for popular hybrids, and more!
In the United States, car sales dropped by over 20% in Q4 of 2021 compared to Q4 of 2020. But EV sales were up 72%, while sales for hybrid vehicles jumped by 84%.
In this wave of record highs for EV sales, a few car brands garnered notable interest. Teslas continued to dominate the EV market, Toyota and Lexus vehicles led the way for hybrids, and the all-electric Mini Cooper SE became the brand’s most popular model this past year.
Guess what? Our latest product updates include more compatibility with all of those brands!
Giving our brand compatibility a +1
And by that, we mean a +1 to bring our brand compatibility from 23 to 24!
We're thrilled to announce that Smartcar is now compatible with 2018 and newer MINI vehicles in the U.S., Canada, and Europe 🎉
The MINI brand is synonymous with its unique build and racecar-like performance, making waves with new fan favorites like the Mini Cooper SE — which InsideEVs calls “one of the most enjoyable MINIs to drive in the brand's entire lineup.”
Developers can now use our APIs with MINI to verify mileage, determine location, check EV battery capacity, retrieve charging status, and more.
New brands in Canada
We're also excited to introduce even more vehicle compatibility in Canada! With Smartcar, apps can now connect to 2018 and newer models of Chrysler, Dodge, Jeep, and RAM vehicles. Take advantage of popular API endpoints like remote lock and unlock, tire pressure, EV battery, engine oil life, and more.
Smartcar also has existing compatibility with these brands in the United States. For a complete list of makes and endpoints, visit our vehicle compatibility page.
More EV endpoints for Lexus and Toyota vehicles
At Smartcar, we want to ensure that your apps deliver the best customer experience for connected vehicles on the road today.
That’s why we're introducing new platform capabilities for Lexus and Toyota models to improve data accessibility and user onboarding.
🔋 EV endpoints for battery level, charging status, and start/stop charge: Apps can use our EV API endpoints to access data from the 2021+ Toyota Prius Prime, 2021+ Toyota RAV4 Prime, and 2022+ Lexus NX PHEV.
🛞 Tire pressure endpoint: Retrieve air pressure for each tire from a vehicle’s Tire Pressure Monitoring System. This endpoint is compatible with select 2018 and newer models.
🔐 One-time password (OTP) support: The Smartcar Connect authorization flow now allows vehicle owners to sign into their connected services account with a OTP. This ensures smooth onboarding when vehicle owners are prompted with additional security validation upon logging in from a new device.
Hourly intervals for webhooks
Smartcar's scheduled webhooks allow apps to retrieve vehicle data on a recurring cadence. We now support webhook intervals between 1 hour and 1 day — such as every 2 hours, 3 hours, and so on.
With these new intervals, apps can better control the frequency of data pulled from each connected vehicle. Scheduled webhooks can be set up for any Smartcar endpoint that allows you to read vehicle data. Reach out to our Customer Success team if you have any questions about Smartcar webhooks and this new update.
In case you missed it: Brand-specific endpoints
At our Winter 2022 Product Showcase, we announced the launch of brand-specific endpoints!
Beyond the standard set of endpoints already offered by our API, brand-specific endpoints can be used to access more granular data for select brands — such as EV charging voltage and EV charging completion time.
As of today, these endpoints are available for Tesla, Cadillac, and Chevrolet.
How does this benefit your developer team?
- Smartcar handles the nitty-gritty work of determining compatibility for each vehicle model and make.
- Developers still get to work with all our standard API endpoints.
- Maintain standardized error codes, permissions, and simple compatibility checks offered by Smartcar’s platform.
Our Head of Platform, Gurpreet Atwal, shared more on the philosophy behind this new feature in our Winter ‘22 showcase. You can watch the recording or read a recap of the event here.
As always, if you have any questions, feedback, or need help getting started, please don't hesitate to contact our Customer Success team.
Want to explore connected car APIs for your business? Schedule a demo today!
