A connected car platform is the carmaker's cloud software that runs behind the car's phone app. It receives data from every connected car and sends commands back to it. A few specialist companies sell this platform. Some carmakers build their own.
The platform does four main jobs. First, it runs remote services. When the owner taps a button in the app, the platform sends the command to the car, for example to lock the doors or to start cooling the cabin. Second, it tracks the car. If the car is stolen, the owner and the police can see where it is. Third, it spots faults early. The car's systems record fault codes, and the platform reads them from thousands of cars. A fault that is common in one model can be found before owners notice it. Fourth, it supplies driving data to insurers that price cover by how a car is driven.
Take, for example, an owner of an SUV parked in the sun at a mall in Mumbai. Ten minutes before she returns, she opens the app and taps "cool the car". The app sends the request to the platform. The platform finds her car by its identity number and sends the command to the car's telematics device, which starts the air conditioning. The platform then shows her the cabin temperature falling.
Security matters here, because the platform can unlock a car. It must check that the request really comes from the owner, and that the command reaches only that one car. It also stores where the owner has driven, so the carmaker needs the owner's permission under the data protection law. Most of this law's duties, including this one, apply from 13 May 2027.
Two parties pay for it. The carmaker pays the platform's provider for each connected car. The owner often gets the app free for a few years, and then pays a yearly fee.
The platform links to many other products. It triggers updates through the over-the-air update platform. It supplies data to usage-based insurance and to dealer service software, so that the workshop knows about a fault before the car arrives. It also drives features in the digital cockpit. The wider subject is telematics, and the car is a software-defined vehicle.