The compact Miles Plug keeps you informed about your car's health and whereabouts – and it works with most gas and hybrid vehiclesMiles Labs

Tiny auto gadget beams vehicle tracking to your phone

by · New Atlas

If your teenager's starting to drive themself, this little car accessory could help keep them safe on the road – and give you some peace of mind.

The Miles Plug connects to the On-board Diagnostics-2 (OBD-2) port inside most gas and hybrid cars, and tracks trips, fuel and battery levels, and engine status. It's got its own GPS and cellular connection, so it can beam that info to your phone via a companion app.

That gives you an overview of where your teen's been driving, and also alerts you of issues like a check engine light or fuel running low. In addition to avoiding getting stuck on the road, this also provides your child with useful information to manage their car independently.

The Plug installs without tools in the ODB-2 port on the underside of your car's dashboardMiles Labs

The Plug works with a subscription service that includes real-time crash monitoring. When an incident is detected, everyone on the shared account is notified, as is Miles' 24/7 monitoring center, whose trained team will call the driver to check in on them. If no one picks up, local first responders are given your location and vehicle details so they can head over to assist.

The plan also comes with roadside assistance around the clock. You can get help with a dead battery, flat tire, empty fuel tank, or lockout. Two requests a year are included; Miles will even tow your vehicle up to 25 miles (40 km) at no extra charge.

You can track your teen's vehicle location, see when they're reached a destination, and check on the car's health via the mobile appMiles Labs

I like that the app provides simplified answers to questions about maintaining your car, and also stores your registration, insurance, and service history documentation for easy access.

The Denver, Colorado-headquartered company was founded by former team members from smart home tech brands Ring, Blink, and Schlage – so they bring extensive experience building connected devices and monitoring services.

Miles' subscription service includes crash monitoring and roadside assistanceMiles Labs

In an interview with The Verge, founder Matt McGovren said the company made a conscious decision to charge upfront for membership to keep the business afloat long-term, and avoid succumbing to financial pressures after ambitiously signing customers on at a low price point.

What's neat about Miles' entire system is it works even when there's no phone in the car. Plus, you don't have to monitor your teen's phone or invade their privacy to know about whether they reached their destination safely. The company says it doesn't sell your data on to third parties, so your trips and vehicle stats stay private.

So what does this cost? It's US$99 for the Plug, and a 12-month subscription adds on $180 (which works out to $15 a month). With a three-year plan at $396, that comes down to $11 a month, and you get the Plug for free.

That's not insignificant, but it doesn't seem unreasonable for the features and service on offer – particularly if you've got a young driver behind the wheel.

Find the Miles Plug on the company's site.

Source: Miles Labs