Dash has developed a connected car platform that turns any vehicle into a ‘smart car’. Our goal is to provide consumers with smart insights into their driving, thereby incentivizing safer, more efficient driving while reducing costs. Dash Pulls 200+ data points from the car’s computer as well as social and ambient data points (weather, traffic APIs) in real time on your smartphone. It provides real time diagnostics/alerts and historical data, enabling you to maximize MPG, improve engine performance, gives tips/insights on carbon emissions and offset tools, as well as how to reduce running costs on gas and maintenance. The Dash algorithm then translates this data into a ‘score’ that allows you to compare your driving with other Dash users. Along with rewards and bumper stickers Dash also strives to make driving more fun and social. Dash is the winner of the White House Apps for Vehicles challenge presented by the Department of Energy and will also be working with the Department of Transportation on their upcoming ‘Drive Smart’ initiative which aims to help drivers improve their safety, save money, decrease emissions and reduce traffic congestion. Dash is used in over 30 countries including the UK with many drivers in London.
Dash can be used to improve the traffic problem in London in several different ways. Drivers can review saved trips to see which routes resulted in a faster commute and then accordingly plan departure times when traffic is thinner. Drivers are rewarded in several ways for shorter and more efficient trips; tangible rewards include meaningful cost and time savings that are readily quantifiable in the Dash App. Commuters that employ these more efficient driving tactics are also rewarded with bumper stickers and a higher Dash score that can actually make a commute more fun. This ‘gamification’ aspect of Dash makes commuting more social by allowing users to compare and brag about their Dash achievements and score to their Dash friends.
The benefits of Dash go way beyond the real-time utility to the driver. All of the data gathered from Dash users in London can be reviewed and analyzed by the TFL to figure out how to remedy the congestion problem on a macro level. The aggregate of data from all of the Dash drivers in London shows us exactly where the congestion is by tracking the location of aggressive braking and acceleration, reduced speeds, idling, sharp turns etc. Dash can enable the TFL to develop a comprehensive plan to pinpoint problem streets and intersections and address the congestion in London in a more efficient manner.
Ford’s OpenXC platform can enhance our app in a couple ways: 1) Access to more vehicles (those in the OpenXC platform) and also in a future iteration we could use the knowledge of windshield wipers as a proxy for bad weather and thus offering alternative routes. .
Basic features of the product include:
Onboarding wizard
Map view
Usage over time and trip log
Feedback on driving style
Distance traveled
Braking
Rapid Acceleration
Speeding
MPG
Vehicle diagnostics
Parking location
Push notifications of nearby gas-stations when fuel is low
Road conditions
Push notifications and auditory feedback
Metrics around idling, eco-efficiency, reckless or distracted driving
Social/gamification elements including Facebook authentication, Dash score (driver quality metric), social sharing and media creation, Tagging (friend, location, data), Leaderboard and badges
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