Sr. Content Writer
Smartcar is an API for developers who want to build apps for cars. Our team aims to make integrating apps with cars as simple and secure as possible — across vehicle brands and without the need for hardware.
Today, the Smartcar platform offers three API endpoints (location, odometer, lock/unlock doors), SDKs in six languages, and support for nine vehicle brands. Create an account today, and use our free tier of 5,000 API calls on 5 connected vehicles per month!
Looking for inspiration? Take a deep dive into the projects from the Smartcar + Hackbright Academy Connected Car Hackathon this September, and see how participating teams turned ideas to real-life apps over the course of just 48 hours.
Smartcar is a product for developers. Clearly, there was no better way for us to put our API in the hands of developers than to host a hackathon.
We were extremely lucky to partner with Hackbright Academy — one of the leading women’s coding academies in the Bay Area. Hackbright hosted us at their San Francisco location and helped us organize everything from getting the word out to potential attendees to providing food and drinks on the weekend-of.
A highlight of the event was the Tesla Model S that our team brought onsite, so that participating teams could test their apps in real time while building. All through the weekend, we could see hackers hitting the lock/unlock endpoint, and the lights flashing on the car parked on Sutter Street.
Here is a quick overview of the products and services that our six teams came up with. Congrats to the winners, Team Car Magic, and the runner-ups, SafeGuard!
In just a weekend, we saw an amazing variety of use cases and ideas from our hackers. From on-demand vehicle maintenance to package delivery, we saw the breadth of possibilities when developers get in the driver’s seat to define the future of mobility. These were just six of the countless use cases that Smartcar facilitates for the automotive ecosystem every day - there are many others, from fleet management to usage-based insurance, from fuel delivery to car washing.
Did we jump-start your creative juices? Then it’s time for you to put things in motion. Simply head to developer.smartcar.com and start building! Any questions or concerns? Please don’t hesitate to email us.
PS: A big thank you goes to everyone who attended our hackathon, to our judges Alexandra (Dobs) Dobkin, Carly Robinson, Sahas Katta, and Charu Sharma, and to our sponsor, Shift.
PPS: If you missed this hackathon, watch out for more to come! Smartcar will be at SacHacks, LAHacks, and six other hackathons during the next few months.
Smartcar is an API that allows mobile and web apps to communicate with connected cars (think “check odometer” or “unlock doors”) — across vehicle brands, hardware-free.
Want to take our API for a spin? Check out our and get started with our ! Have any questions or feedback? Shoot us an ! 🚀
Smartcar is the easiest way to integrate mobility apps and services with cars.