Vehicle telematics systems and methods

Abstract

A computer system for automatically allocating periodic maintenance contributions to a maintenance savings account based upon vehicle telematics data includes a processor and a computer-readable storage medium having instructions stored thereon that, in response to execution by the processor, cause the processor to perform operations including: (i) receiving, from a vehicle, telematics data associated with a vehicle component; (ii) determining a replacement cycle associated with the vehicle component; (iii) determining a replacement cost of the vehicle component; (iv) calculating a plurality of periodic maintenance contributions to a maintenance savings account, the maintenance savings account associated with the vehicle owner and designated to receive the plurality of periodic maintenance contributions; and (v) automatically transferring the plurality of periodic maintenance contributions from a primary account associated with the user to the maintenance savings account.

We claim: 
     
         1 . A computer system comprising:
 a server computing device comprising at least one processor in communication with a vehicle computing device of a vehicle and a maintenance account computing device associated with a primary account of a user of the vehicle; and   a non-transitory, tangible, computer-readable storage medium having computer-executable instructions stored thereon that, in response to execution by the at least one processor, cause the at least one processor to perform operations comprising:
 displaying, on a client device of the user, a dashboard including a plurality of vehicle components of the vehicle and one or more maintenance accounts associated with the user; 
 receiving, via a selector displayed on the dashboard, a plurality of selections, each selection associated with one of the plurality of vehicle components, each selection indicating a maintenance account of the one or more maintenance accounts designated to hold funds for replacing each selected vehicle component at an end of a replacement cycle associated with each selected vehicle component, the maintenance account including a plurality of partitions, each partition designated to track one or more maintenance contributions for replacing each selected vehicle component; 
 receiving in real-time, via wireless communication from the vehicle computing device, telematics data collected during a vehicle trip by one or more sensors associated with the vehicle; 
 determining, based upon the telematics data, a rate of wear of each selected vehicle component to determine a trip cost for the vehicle trip; and 
 transmitting a message to the maintenance account computing device, the message including the trip cost and instructing the maintenance account computing device to automatically transfer a maintenance contribution payment representing the trip cost from the primary account to the maintenance account, the maintenance account allocating each portion of the trip cost to each partition associated with a corresponding selected vehicle component. 
   
     
     
         2 . The computer system of  claim 1 , wherein the computer-executable instructions stored further cause the at least one processor to perform operations comprising:
 determining, based upon the rate of wear of each selected vehicle component, the trip cost for the vehicle trip, the trip cost representative of a cost aggregation of the rate of wear of each selected vehicle component as a result of the vehicle trip.   
     
     
         3 . The computer system of  claim 1 , wherein the telematics data includes a condition of each selected vehicle component and environmental data including environmental factors impacting the vehicle. 
     
     
         4 . The computer system of  claim 1 , wherein the at least one processor is in further communication with a maintenance data source that includes cost data for the plurality of vehicle components, and wherein the computer-executable instructions stored further cause the at least one processor to perform operations comprising:
 retrieving, from the maintenance data source, lifecycle data of each selected vehicle component, the lifecycle data indicative of an amount of usage each selected vehicle component is designated to receive prior to replacement; and   determining, based upon an analysis of the rate of wear and the lifecycle data of each selected vehicle component, the replacement cycle associated with each selected vehicle component.   
     
     
         5 . The computer system of  claim 1 , wherein the computer-executable instructions stored further cause the at least one processor to perform operations comprising:
 aggregating the trip cost to a plurality of trip costs associated with each selected vehicle component;   determining, based upon the aggregated trip cost to the plurality of trip costs, whether a total cost of trips associated with each selected vehicle component exceeds a maintenance contribution threshold; and   transmitting an additional message to the maintenance account computing device, the additional message including the total cost of trips and instructing the maintenance account computing device to automatically transfer a maintenance contribution payment representing the total cost of trips from the primary account to the maintenance account, the maintenance account allocating each portion of the total cost of trips to each partition associated with a corresponding selected vehicle component.   
     
     
         6 . The computer system of  claim 1 , wherein each of the plurality of selections is made to monitor the rate of wear of the associated vehicle component, each selection inputted by the user. 
     
     
         7 . The computer system of  claim 1 , wherein the one or more sensors are configured to detect a condition of the plurality of vehicle components including each selected vehicle component. 
     
     
         8 . A computer-implemented method using a computer system including a server computing device that includes at least one processor in communication with a vehicle computing device of a vehicle and a maintenance account computing device associated with a primary account of a user of the vehicle, the method performed by the at least one processor and comprising:
 displaying, on a client device of the user, a dashboard including a plurality of vehicle components of the vehicle and one or more maintenance accounts associated with the user;   receiving, via a selector displayed on the dashboard, a plurality of selections, each selection associated with one of the plurality of vehicle components, each selection indicating a maintenance account of the one or more maintenance accounts designated to hold funds for replacing each selected vehicle component at an end of a replacement cycle associated with each selected vehicle component, the maintenance account including a plurality of partitions, each partition designated to track one or more maintenance contributions for replacing each selected vehicle component;   receiving in real-time, via wireless communication from the vehicle computing device, telematics data collected during a vehicle trip by one or more sensors associated with the vehicle;   determining, based upon the telematics data, a rate of wear of each selected vehicle component to determine a trip cost for the vehicle trip; and   transmitting a message to the maintenance account computing device, the message including the trip cost and instructing the maintenance account computing device to automatically transfer a maintenance contribution payment representing the trip cost from the primary account to the maintenance account, the maintenance account allocating each portion of the trip cost to each partition associated with a corresponding selected vehicle component.   
     
     
         9 . The computer-implemented method of  claim 8  further comprising:
 determining, based upon the rate of wear of each selected vehicle component, the trip cost for the vehicle trip, the trip cost representative of a cost aggregation of the rate of wear of each selected vehicle component as a result of the vehicle trip. 
 
     
     
         10 . The computer-implemented method of  claim 8 , wherein the telematics data includes a condition of each selected vehicle component and environmental data including environmental factors impacting the vehicle. 
     
     
         11 . The computer-implemented method of  claim 8 , wherein the at least one processor is in further communication with a maintenance data source that includes cost data for the plurality of vehicle components, and wherein the method further comprises:
 retrieving, from the maintenance data source, lifecycle data of each selected vehicle component, the lifecycle data indicative of an amount of usage each selected vehicle component is designated to receive prior to replacement; and   determining, based upon an analysis of the rate of wear and the lifecycle data of each selected vehicle component, the replacement cycle associated with each selected vehicle component.   
     
     
         12 . The computer-implemented method of  claim 8  further comprising:
 aggregating the trip cost to a plurality of trip costs associated with each selected vehicle component; 
 determining, based upon the aggregated trip cost to the plurality of trip costs, whether a total cost of trips associated with each selected vehicle component exceeds a maintenance contribution threshold; and 
 transmitting an additional message to the maintenance account computing device, the additional message including the total cost of trips and instructing the maintenance account computing device to automatically transfer a maintenance contribution payment representing the total cost of trips from the primary account to the maintenance account, the maintenance account allocating each portion of the total cost of trips to each partition associated with a corresponding selected vehicle component. 
 
     
     
         13 . The computer-implemented method of  claim 8 , wherein each of the plurality of selections is made to monitor the rate of wear of the associated vehicle component, each selection inputted by the user. 
     
     
         14 . The computer-implemented method of  claim 8 , wherein the one or more sensors are configured to detect a condition of the plurality of vehicle components including each selected vehicle component. 
     
     
         15 . At least one non-transitory computer-readable storage medium having computer-executable instructions embodied thereon, wherein when executed by a at least one processor included in a server computing device in communication with a vehicle computing device of a vehicle and a maintenance account computing device associated with a primary account of a user of the vehicle, the computer-executable instructions cause the at least one processor to perform operations comprising:
 displaying, on a client device of the user, a dashboard including a plurality of vehicle components of the vehicle and one or more maintenance accounts associated with the user;   receiving, via a selector displayed on the dashboard, a plurality of selections, each selection associated with one of the plurality of vehicle components, each selection indicating a maintenance account of the one or more maintenance accounts designated to hold funds for replacing each selected vehicle component at an end of a replacement cycle associated with each selected vehicle component, the maintenance account including a plurality of partitions, each partition designated to track one or more maintenance contributions for replacing each selected vehicle component;   receiving in real-time, via wireless communication from the vehicle computing device, telematics data collected during a vehicle trip by one or more sensors associated with the vehicle;   determining, based upon the telematics data, a rate of wear of each selected vehicle component to determine a trip cost for the vehicle trip; and   transmitting a message to the maintenance account computing device, the message including the trip cost and instructing the maintenance account computing device to automatically transfer a maintenance contribution payment representing the trip cost from the primary account to the maintenance account, the maintenance account allocating each portion of the trip cost to each partition associated with a corresponding selected vehicle component.   
     
     
         16 . The computer-readable storage medium of  claim 15 , wherein the computer-executable instructions stored further cause the at least one processor to perform operations comprising:
 determining, based upon the rate of wear of each selected vehicle component, the trip cost for the vehicle trip, the trip cost representative of a cost aggregation of the rate of wear of each selected vehicle component as a result of the vehicle trip.   
     
     
         17 . The computer-readable storage medium of  claim 15 , wherein the telematics data includes a condition of each selected vehicle component and environmental data including environmental factors impacting the vehicle. 
     
     
         18 . The computer-readable storage medium of  claim 15 , wherein the at least one processor is in further communication with a maintenance data source that includes cost data for the plurality of vehicle components, and wherein the computer-executable instructions stored further cause the at least one processor to perform operations comprising:
 retrieving, from the maintenance data source, lifecycle data of each selected vehicle component, the lifecycle data indicative of an amount of usage each selected vehicle component is designated to receive prior to replacement; and   determining, based upon an analysis of the rate of wear and the lifecycle data of each selected vehicle component, the replacement cycle associated with each selected vehicle component.   
     
     
         19 . The computer-readable storage medium of  claim 15 , wherein the computer-executable instructions stored further cause the at least one processor to perform operations comprising:
 aggregating the trip cost to a plurality of trip costs associated with each selected vehicle component;   determining, based upon the aggregated trip cost to the plurality of trip costs, whether a total cost of trips associated with each selected vehicle component exceeds a maintenance contribution threshold; and   transmitting an additional message to the maintenance account computing device, the additional message including the total cost of trips and instructing the maintenance account computing device to automatically transfer a maintenance contribution payment representing the total cost of trips from the primary account to the maintenance account, the maintenance account allocating each portion of the total cost of trips to each partition associated with a corresponding selected vehicle component.   
     
     
         20 . The computer-readable storage medium of  claim 15 , wherein each of the plurality of selections is made to monitor the rate of wear of the associated vehicle component, each selection inputted by the user.