Related Sections: Future Tech GPS
Garmin Nuvi to display the inner workings of your car
Now this is really cool in a geeky sort of way: Garmin will soon offer EcoRoutes ESP, an optional attachment that you connect to your car's diagnostics port, making it so a selectable screen full of gauges will show up on your Garmin Nuvi GPS screen.
This'll let you keep tabs on lots of things your car is doing that you normally wouldn't be able to see, such as real-time fuel economy, a tachometer, throttle position, intake manifold pressure, coolant temperature, intake air temperature, and emissions. You'll be able to select which gauges appear on the screen, and even set alerts for each one.
Most cars built since 1996 have an onboard diagnostics (OBD) port, and the accessory Garmin is offering is basically a Bluetooth transmitter that plugs into it. Since many Garmin GPS units can already receive Bluetooth signals to accommodate hands-free cellphone calling, they'll be able to receive this data. Neat.
We're thinking this would be tons of fun to keep an eye on when traveling on a ultra long road trip with 200 miles until the next turn. Or, it could be just one more accident-causing distraction. Either way, expect to see EcoRoutes ESP on display at the upcoming CES 2010 in January.
UPDATE: Now there's a price announced for this attachment: $149.99, and it might "possibly be available by the end of the year." Take a look at screenshot of the interface:
Via Ubergizmo
By Drew at 12:59 PM ON 11/05/09
Very cool. I love how "plug n play" this seems. Good stuff.
By MidNight Mapper at 2:58 PM ON 11/05/09
Now this is interesting... You can not drive to maximized miles per gallon until you can measure it! Ask and hybrid owner.
By menotyou at 6:26 PM ON 11/05/09
I would like to see more advancement in this area.
I hate having to rely on mechanics to tell me whats wrong with my car.
This would be an excellent self diagnostic tool for people like me, who know very little about internal combustion engines.
By Karpet at 12:33 AM ON 11/06/09
@menotyou:
You can rent OBD II diagnostic tools from Autozone type stores for free (basically a cash deposit) that do basically the same thing, just not in real time or as pretty.
By drewtech at 8:32 AM ON 11/06/09
Nothing new here. The Drew Tech DashDAQ has been on the market for a couple of years now. Garmin may be in the car but they are not car guys and they are way behind the curve when it comes to getting information out of vehicles. If you are serious about getting data out of a car you need to look at the DashDAQ. It has won over 20 SEMA new product awards and is built by car guys for car guys.
By JDM at 11:00 PM ON 11/06/09
Many aftermarket tuners like Greddy have had units like this available for years.
By Garmin Portable GPS at 4:46 AM ON 11/09/09
Nice Gadget, I love the Digital Looks. It's like a Future Gadget
By Th3Lon3Rang3r at 4:31 PM ON 11/10/09
It's a cool feature, but can you say "carbon credits"? Imagine having to turn a report like this in each month (to the government) showing how effecient your driving and vehicle are. If effieciency is poor, you'll then owe more carbon taxes.
The sad part is this programs are already in the works by our fearless leadership.
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Th3Lon3Rang3r:
It's a cool feature, but can you say "carbon credits"? Imagine having to turn a report like this in each month (to ...More »