What’s all this hullabaloo about connected cars?

For most of us, our car is like a second home, and the number of hours we spend in it only rises exponentially if we like to take long road trips regularly.

Safety, comfort and convenience are paramount, and so every additional feature in the car that can enhance our experience is welcome.

Connected car tech is the most recent trend that has taken the market by storm amongst new model launches. And while luxury cars have had bits and pieces of the tech, it is mass-market brands that have taken the lead in introducing a larger suite of these features.

But while we have all heard about and probably seen demos of a remote engine on/ off and voice commands for the sunroof, connected car tech has a lot more to offer.

Are they useful, can these features come in handy during our commute every day, and do they genuinely improve the safety of the car’s occupants?

Here are some answers after my first-hand experience using a clutch of these features in our long-term Kia Carens review.

Easy Set-up

The Kia Carens offers about 66 connected car features that also include voice-command based automated, in-cabin operations. Kia was one of the early adopters of connected car tech and each new model from the brand has progressively delivered even more improved and fine-tuned features. Set up is simple; just download the ‘Kia Connect’ app on your phone, follow the instructions on the infotainment screen and it is done. The Carens, like all the other vehicles that offer Connected Car tech will be offered with an embedded SIM and a multi-year data subscription contract that enables the car to communicate with a central server to deliver some of the key safety functions and for ‘over-the-air’ updates (OTA). 

Safety

One of the most important decisions that car buyers need to take in today’s context is to invest in higher safety tech in their cars. While active and passive safety systems in the car can help prevent injury or death in the event of a collision or an accident, Connected Car tech can be a sort of alert backup system that can potentially also activate a rescue or ambulance mission to the car’s location post the unfortunate event.

In the Kia Carens, for example, though six airbags are standard fitment and there are a host of other safety features, the advanced automatic collision notification (AACN) is a backup system that can be a lifesaver. In the event of a collision, this connected car feature automatically notifies first responders. There are two other network-dependent safety features set into the rear-view mirror housing in the cabin.

At the touch of the SOS button, you can connect to an emergency dispatch centre, or if you use the roadside assistance button, service or technical team from the nearest workshop can be sent to attend to repairs at the location of the vehicle. While these features, hopefully, will not be needed often, the fact that there is a backup plan is often a comforting factor, especially if you are going to explore new routes and destinations. 

Convenience

One of the biggest uses for Connected Car tech is the comfort and convenience features it offers. In my opinionvoice command controls for the driver’s side window open/ close or the sunroof open/ close may be a bit too much. But there are others that I found useful such as the weather and sports updates; especially useful if it is a race weekend. Similarly, the remote functions for engine start/ stop and door lock/ unlock may seem mundane, until that one occasion when you’ve parked the car and walked past the range for the key fob. Left wondering if you forgot to lock the car. The reconfirmation is just one tap on your smartphone. 

literally, one of the coolest functions in the Carens was the ability to remotely activate the seat ventilation function. After the car has been left parked under the sun, one of the nicest feelings is to be able to sit on a pre-cooled seat. Navigation-related features are always useful, especially if it includes ‘Live Traffic’. But the other NAV feature that I personally found to be helpful was ‘Final Destination Guidance’. Basically, if you have to park the car elsewhere and walk while heading to a destination located in a crowded, narrow-laned locality, the navigation continues on your smartphone until you reach. 

For the Chauffeur-driven

With so many Indian car owners choosing to employ the services of a chauffeur, there are a bunch of nifty features that will help the owner keep a tab on the use or misuse of the car in their absence. One of them is Geo-Fence Alert, which allows you to set a boundary within which the car is considered safe and is alerted if it exits this area. This can be combined with live vehicle tracking. There is also an idling alert to check if the car is being misused by running the engine on idle for prolonged durations. The one mode that was genuinely useful for me, given how reluctant I am to hand over my car to valets, was the Valet Mode which helps one track the location, travelling time, distance, and top speed of the car while it is in the possession of a valet. A couple of the other features that may be useful, whether you have a self-driven car or a chauffeur-driven one, are the driving behaviour measure and the monthly health report. 

Connected Car tech is an evolving field and there are likely to be many more real-world applications in the future. These can be for relaying critical information if the vehicle involved is an electric, where range anxiety can be real issue. But, Kia feels that even with ICE vehicles Connected Car tech and ADAS (advanced driver assistance systems) can complement each other offering new safety applications in the future. 

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