Age Of The Smart Car?

Are connected cars all they’re cracked up to be? We demystify the tech, and put to the test what it can and can’t do

- Simran Rastogi

If you haven’t heard the words ‘connected’ and ‘car’ used in the same sentence recently, good job on staying disconnected from the automotive news cycles! The hottest buzz word at this point of time, it’s hard to believe that just a little over a year ago, few had even heard of it. With the launch of the Hyundai Venue, which earned the distinction of being India’s first connected car, the flood gates seem to have been opened. In the time since then, other manufacturers have joined the party – MG, Kia, Honda, Ford and Tata to name but a few of the notable entries. The common talking points have been the ability to “talk” to the car (in the form of voice assistance) and view vital information about it right from your smartphone, apart from being able to track its location, and even remotely lock/unlock and start the engine to run the airconditioning on a hot day – one of the most useful features of the technology we’ve found so far.

We’ll get into how well those features work in a while, but if you also have memories of something similar, if basic, being around for a while even before the Venue, you’d be right. Third party manufacturers, have offered connected car dongles (with SIM cards for connectivity and GPS for tracking) which plug into a vehicle’s OBDII port enabling telematics, tracking and even emergency alerts in some cases. In fact, the Ford EcoSport, launched back in 2013, when paired with your phone via Bluetooth, could call emergency services automatically if the airbags went off. More recently, manufacturers themselves have been offering the tech as an add-on, usually with a subscription fee, like Maruti Suzuki does.

How are connected cars different?