Frequently asked questions

ChargeChime is a passive vehicle monitoring service. It connects to your car and tracks battery/fuel level, lock status, tire pressure, and lease mileage — then alerts you only when something needs your attention.

No. ChargeChime works with EVs, hybrids, and gas vehicles. If your car supports SmartCar's API, ChargeChime can monitor it. Available signals vary by vehicle — some support charge monitoring, others fuel gauge, tire pressure, or lock control.

During enrollment, you'll link your vehicle through SmartCar's secure OAuth flow. You sign in to your vehicle manufacturer's account, grant ChargeChime permission to read the signals you choose, and you're done. No hardware, no dongles, no OBD ports.

ChargeChime works with any vehicle supported by SmartCar, including Tesla, Ford, BMW, Rivian, Toyota, Honda, Chevrolet, Hyundai, Kia, Mercedes-Benz, Volkswagen, and 25+ more brands. Check the full compatibility matrix at smartcar.com/product/compatible-vehicles.

No. ChargeChime is entirely cloud-based. It connects to your vehicle through the same APIs your car's manufacturer app uses. Nothing to plug in, nothing to pair via Bluetooth.

Under two minutes. Create an account, connect your vehicle via SmartCar, set your monitoring schedule and notification preferences, and you're done.

Once per day at the time you choose. You pick the daily check-in time, and ChargeChime pulls your vehicle's data at that moment to evaluate any alert conditions. In addition, ChargeChime receives webhook updates from your manufacturer as things change on your vehicle — if something critical is detected, we'll notify you as long as it falls within your notification window.

Notifications are triggered when something needs your attention: fuel or battery drops below your threshold, your car is found unlocked at your scheduled check, tire pressure drops below safe levels, or your lease mileage is projected to exceed your allowance. Notifications are only sent within your configured notification window.

If your vehicle is found unlocked at its scheduled daily check, ChargeChime will automatically send a lock command. You'll receive a confirmation notification when the lock succeeds. This feature requires your vehicle to support lock control via SmartCar.

No measurable impact. ChargeChime uses the same telemetry APIs as your manufacturer's app. The data requests are lightweight and don't wake the vehicle's drive systems.

It depends on what your manufacturer exposes through SmartCar. EVs and newer vehicles typically support more signals (charge level, lock control, tire pressure). Older or gas-only vehicles may support fewer.

Only the signals you explicitly grant during setup: battery/fuel level, lock status, tire pressure, odometer, and vehicle info. ChargeChime never accesses location, driving history, contacts, or any personal data beyond what's needed for monitoring.

No. ChargeChime does not request or store location data. We have no access to GPS, trip history, or driving routes.

Vehicle telemetry is stored encrypted at rest in Cloudflare's global network. Authentication is handled by Clerk with industry-standard OAuth 2.0. We never store your vehicle manufacturer credentials.

Yes. You can disconnect any vehicle at any time from your ChargeChime dashboard or directly from SmartCar's permission management page. Revoking access immediately stops all monitoring.

$9.95/month includes your first vehicle with full access to all features. Each additional vehicle is $5/month. For example, monitoring 3 vehicles costs $19.95/month.

Yes. You get 30 days of full access with no credit card required. If you don't subscribe after the trial ends, monitoring simply stops — no surprise charges.

If you don't add a payment method, monitoring stops. Your account and vehicle configuration are preserved for 90 days in case you decide to subscribe later. No charges, no data loss.

Yes. Add a vehicle and you'll be charged the prorated $5/mo for the remainder of your billing cycle. Remove one and the charge stops at the next billing date.

All major credit and debit cards via Stripe. We also support Apple Pay and Google Pay where available.

One click from Account → Billing → Cancel subscription. No hoops, no retention calls. Your monitoring continues until the end of the paid period, then stops.