What is Smartcar?
Smartcar is a third-party API that allows SPAN Drive to access and display your vehicle’s information - such as make and model, state of charge, and range.
Smartcar is not required to use Drive. All Drive features (excluding Smartcar benefits) will be accessible whether you choose to use Smartcar or not.
Smartcar is currently only available for sites with a SPAN Drive connected to a SPAN Panel MAIN 32, it is not compatible with SPAN Panel MAIN 40 or SPAN Panel MLO 48 at this time. Not sure which panel you have? Check out this article: How do I know which SPAN Panel I own?
How Do I Use Smartcar?
If you choose to register your vehicle, you’ll do the following:
- Open your SPAN Home App and go to the SPAN Drive page.
- Click “Add Vehicle” and choose your vehicle’s brand.
- Click “Connect Vehicle'' and you’ll be directed to the login screen for your vehicle’s brand.
- Choose the vehicle you want connected to your SPAN Home App.
- Click “Allow” and you’ll be redirected back to your SPAN Home App.
What if I have Multiple Vehicles?
If you have multiple vehicles, you can still charge them without issue using Drive but only one vehicle can be registered through SmartCar. We recommend choosing your primary vehicle to register.
What if I can’t pair my vehicle with Smartcar?
Keep in mind that not all vehicle makes and models are supported by Smartcar (this is a limitation of Smartcar, not SPAN) and newer models may take some time to be added to their system.
A full list of vehicle makes compatible with Smartcar can be found on their website here. If your vehicle is not supported, you can still use all SPAN Drive features, but you will not be able to see the state of charge for your vehicle in the SPAN Home app.
If your vehicle is compatible with Smatcar but is not connecting, please contact SPAN Support and share:
- Your vehicle details (make, model, year)
- Screenshots and description of the issue(s) you encountered
Why might I see stale Tesla data in the SPAN Home app?
Tesla changed its data access policy and now requires approval of a “virtual key” to access its streaming API for all compatible vehicles. Model S and Model X vehicles from 2020 or earlier are excluded.
If you have not approved a “virtual key” in the Tesla app granting data access to SmartCar, SPAN’s API provider, then SPAN cannot access Tesla’s streaming API. As a result, you may see stale data in the SPAN Home app if your vehicle is idle and your Tesla app is closed.
How do I approve data access and keep my Tesla vehicle data up-to-date?
On your mobile device, click here to open the Tesla app and approve the pairing of a virtual key with SmartCar, SPAN’s API provider. Once you approve, you should again see up-to-date Tesla information in the SPAN Home app.
The workflow in your Tesla app will look like this: