L.A. Company Develops Tech that Allows Cars to “Talk” to Drivers
Los Angeles-based SPARQ is reimagining the relationship people have with their cars with the introduction of SPARQ Diagnostics, announced by a press release. This small device takes the secrets out of vehicle maintenance by turning most vehicles on the road today into four-wheel AI, allowing drivers to talk directly with their cars to find and solve problems months before they happen.
Appearing at the Los Angeles Auto Show through Dec. 1, the new SPARQ Diagnostics device tracks 50,000 vehicle codes - more than any consumer diagnostics device to ever hit the market - and is personalized to every driver based on their unique behavior and vehicle. The device connects with drivers’ phones, offering the vehicle’s health score and proactively identifying potential maintenance or service in simple, everyday language.
The SPARQ Diagnostics device offers the depth and quality of vehicle data comparable to $10,000-plus commercial-grade on-board diagnostics (OBD II) scanners and sells without the annual or monthly service fees of other consumer OBD II devices - costs that can, over the average length of car ownership, balloon to more than $1,000. And with the ability to engage in two-way conversations with their vehicles through the SPARQ Diagnostics AI interface, drivers will be more educated and prepared on the need for repairs or service, fair costs for service and parts, and policy questions with their car insurance.
The retail price of SPARQ Diagnostics is $499 without annual fees or subscription costs. But to demonstrate a commitment to forever changing the car service industry, SPARQ is giving the device to attendees of the L.A. Auto Show for free.
“Car design and functionality has advanced dramatically over time, but the way we maintain and service our cars is stuck in the past,” said Daniel Nieh, co-founder of SPARQ. “There is no need for drivers to spend their time Googling why a check engine light is on, or what it will cost to repair an issue. SPARQ Diagnostics allows us to talk with and learn about our cars, so we don’t have to rely on translators who profit from telling us what’s wrong and how to fix it.”
Nieh and co-founder Codrin Cobzaru, friends for decades and partners at technology startups, decided to tackle the traditional car servicing and maintenance industry after Cobzaru’s girlfriend was repeatedly over-quoted by mechanics for the cost of a routine repair.
“Drivers are disempowered when they bring cars into the shop,” said Cobzaru. “Most don’t know what’s actually wrong, and even if they do, they don’t know how urgently it should be addressed, and what it should cost. With SPARQ, you ask the questions and your car gives you the honest answers, which will help to send more informed drivers to the shop less often.”
SPARQ Diagnostics works by plugging into a car’s OBD II port. After downloading the SPARQ app for iOS and answering some basic questions, drivers will have on-demand insight into their car’s health, as well as an intuitive AI interface to ask any questions and receive quick, accurate, easy-to-understand answers about the car.
SPARQ will also give Diagnostics users a “time lapse” that reads and interprets all their insurance policy information and service records, connecting the dots so drivers are proactively informed about actions they need to take, without having to comb through paperwork.
Information for this article was sourced from PR Newswire.
