API access?

[beatle]

Has anyone heard whether Ford will allow 3rd party API access to the F150 Lightning? API access is one super awesome feature that Tesla has had, enabling 3rd party websites (that you grant access to) the ability to poll the vehicle for information such as location, speed, mileage, and energy consumption as well as the ability to control things like the climate control, starting/stopping a charge, or unlocking the doors. It's great for tracking battery degradation, efficiency in various scenarios (cold/hot temperature differences, new tires, mountain climbs, etc.) I use a service called TeslaFi for this, though there is at least one other.

Even if Ford doesn't open this up to 3rd parties, it would be a great internal subscription if they provide the data logging and access themselves. I pay $50/year for TeslaFi and it is well worth it. I can imagine how valuable it would be for fleet services as well since it allows such robust tracking and vehicle metrics.

I haven't seen mention of this in any literature, though it may make the uniformed panic about remote access to a vehicle, so I could see Ford not leading with this, but for data nerds and people that care about all aspects of their vehicle, it's really hard to live without.

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[ChasingCoral]

Has anyone heard whether Ford will allow 3rd party API access to the F150 Lightning? API access is one super awesome feature that Tesla has had, enabling 3rd party websites (that you grant access to) the ability to poll the vehicle for information such as location, speed, mileage, and energy consumption as well as the ability to control things like the climate control, starting/stopping a charge, or unlocking the doors. It's great for tracking battery degradation, efficiency in various scenarios (cold/hot temperature differences, new tires, mountain climbs, etc.) I use a service called TeslaFi for this, though there is at least one other.

Even if Ford doesn't open this up to 3rd parties, it would be a great internal subscription if they provide the data logging and access themselves. I pay $50/year for TeslaFi and it is well worth it. I can imagine how valuable it would be for fleet services as well since it allows such robust tracking and vehicle metrics.

I haven't seen mention of this in any literature, though it may make the uniformed panic about remote access to a vehicle, so I could see Ford not leading with this, but for data nerds and people that care about all aspects of their vehicle, it's really hard to live without.

So far there has been almost no sign of API use on the Mustang Mach E.

 

[xtraman122]

Has anyone heard whether Ford will allow 3rd party API access to the F150 Lightning? API access is one super awesome feature that Tesla has had, enabling 3rd party websites (that you grant access to) the ability to poll the vehicle for information such as location, speed, mileage, and energy consumption as well as the ability to control things like the climate control, starting/stopping a charge, or unlocking the doors. It's great for tracking battery degradation, efficiency in various scenarios (cold/hot temperature differences, new tires, mountain climbs, etc.) I use a service called TeslaFi for this, though there is at least one other.

Even if Ford doesn't open this up to 3rd parties, it would be a great internal subscription if they provide the data logging and access themselves. I pay $50/year for TeslaFi and it is well worth it. I can imagine how valuable it would be for fleet services as well since it allows such robust tracking and vehicle metrics.

I haven't seen mention of this in any literature, though it may make the uniformed panic about remote access to a vehicle, so I could see Ford not leading with this, but for data nerds and people that care about all aspects of their vehicle, it's really hard to live without.

I can almost guarantee it'll be available to fleet customers, I think there was even hints of that during some of the presentation for companies with large fleets to be able to keep track of information like that, but not sure if you'll see it on the consumer side. Would be nice if they did allow it though.

 

[beatle]

That's good to hear. Hopefully they don't exclude it from Joe 6 pack who also wants that important vehicle data.

I've learned a lot about my car's capabilities and range with the data gleaned from TeslaFi. It's nice that Ford's navigation provides some level of prediction based on a number of factors, but it's very nice to know for yourself. I think a lot of truck owners are the "I'll do it myself" crowd and would appreciate that level of detail, even if it's kind of nerdy.

 

[don.mullins]

If they did, I would not expect it to Be tied to being an EV - I would expect it to be tied to SYNC4 vehicles.

 

[beatle]

I suppose it's true that you could get similar data from an ICE vehicle depending on what portion of the vehicle would be required to be "on" in order to function. Being able to track location and trips would be important no matter what the powerplant is.

At least on a Tesla, the main computer stays on when the system is being polled (once a minute) and that has an effect on "phantom" battery drain when the car is not being driven. On an EV that's not really a big deal since there is a gigantic HV battery to recharge the 12v that the computer runs on, but in an ICE vehicle, the battery is primarily used to start the vehicle, and you'd run that down quickly if you were able to poll the vehicle while it's not running.

 

[Squatch]

I wish, but Ford is a traditional auto manufacturer first and it's been nearly a century since they've wanted you to work on your own vehicle and have access to everything on it.

 

[discothan]

It probably will have an ODB2 port....old school API port!

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