Conversing with our vehicles may still be a ways off, but the Smart Driving Assistant by Automatic might be the next best thing.
Automatic’s Smart Driving Assistant is a device that integrates Android and iPhone devices with your car’s on-board diagnostics port via a simple plug, and it tracks your recent trips, measures fuel economy, monitors engine health, and alerts authorities during emergencies as necessary. It even remembers where you parked your car for you, all in an easy-to-use digital interface.
For those who want to delve a little deeper into automotive analysis, Automatic has just released a new Web Dashboard. The Web Dashboard takes all the information stored by the Smart Driving Assistant and expands it tenfold, filtering the data based on vehicle, date range, route, and driving cost metrics. As the name implies, all of this is totally Automatic.
The dashboard allows users to revisit trips from multiple vehicles, with information like average mpg, trip cost, distance, duration, and a handy ‘driver score’ conveniently displayed over a map of your area. What exactly goes into your driver score?
The main criteria seems to be fuel economy, but the onboard assistant also logs things like rough braking, speeding, and rapid acceleration. These may be unavoidable indulgences for some, but Automatic’s comprehensive analysis could save drivers countless dollars on fuel, vehicle wear-and-tear, and, potentially, pesky speeding tickets.
Related: Back to school car accessories guide
Interested in cutting down on summer driving costs? Simply click into the Web Dashboard and view trips from your peak commuting hours during that time period. From there, it’s a snap to gauge how much money you’re spending to drive a particular route and adjust as necessary. There may not be a better tool out there to craft expense reports and save you (and your family) money, if you’re into that sort of thing.
The Automatic Smart Driving Assistant retails for $99.95.
