What’s a Connected Car and How Does It Work?

The Connected Car

It’s like driving a computer.

Episodio 3: Are You Smarter Than Your Connected Car?

All those fancy buttons that used to be exclusive to high-end vehicles are becoming more standard options thanks to the rise of connected cars. Between all the sensors, cameras and on-board diagnostics, there’s a lot of advanced technology built in. Watch as Rich (of “Rich Rebuilds”) and Charles (“The Humble Mechanic” ) show us how connected cars work and how to keep them tuned up.

What’s a “Connected Car,” Anyway?

To put it simply, says Charles, connected cars come with features that make a driver more connected to the car — features like a backup camera, some type of parking assist or even adaptive cruise control, to name a few.

Rich explains that connected cars are actually plugged into the vehicle manufacturer’s telematics. In other words, with telematics, the car is constantly exchanging real-time data with the manufacturer’s information systems, such as with GPS and on-board diagnostics.

Both of those definitions are right. The purpose of all this data-sharing is to make it safer and to make maintenance easier for the driver. The advanced information systems may detect any potential issues, whether it’s a tire that’s going flat or an unexpected change in your oil levels.

The Hardware Behind the Paint Job

It’s not all about internal computer systems, either. Connected cars can also have exterior features regular cars don’t have. Between parking and lane assist features alone, there are sensors and cameras embedded all around your connected car’s exterior, most of which you can’t see without taking things apart.

With all this technology built into the exterior of many connected cars, it means any impact damage — even if it’s minor — could keep some of the high-tech features from working properly. Even something as simple as dirt on a sensor or camera could impact the car’s functionality, making it all the more important to keep the exterior of your connected car sparkling clean.

What’s Different Under the Hood?

When you start looking inside a connected car, you may notice there are a lot of plastic covers underneath the hood that you don’t see in most older cars. In the connected car that Rich and Charles open up, there’s also an AGM battery, which is a special type of battery commonly used in hybrids and connected cars with high-tech features.

Related: What’s an AGM Battery?

That absorbed glass-mat (AGM) battery is the main power source for all the advanced components in this car, such as the infotainment system you play music through, and the cameras and sensors that warn you if something’s about to go wrong.

Still getting familiar with how your connected car works? Checking your owners manual can be extremely helpful — it took Charles’s wife two years to even realize her car had heated seats!