8 smart gadgets you need to keep in your car

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There’s always talk of smart home gadgets, designed to upgrade your lifestyle experiences at home. But one place people spend a lot of time is in their car, during commutes for work, on family trips, or quick drives to the store. So, why don’t we talk about smart gadgets you need to keep in your car more often?

Sure, some of the obvious answers stand out, like a dash cam, or a portable jump starter — for when your battery needs a boost — but what else is there? Let’s break the mold and take a closer look.

1. Common gadgets

Before we take a look at some of the more unique smart gadgets you should keep in your car, let’s make sure everyone knows the common ones. Obviously, it’s best to have a smart dash cam installed. That can help with insurance claims, emergencies, and other accidents where it’s good to have footage or evidence. Be sure to choose a high-definition option, preferably with front and rear coverage to get all major angles.

Another common smart gadget example includes a portable jump starter, which works more like a portable power station to quickly start your car — without needing to connect jumper cables to another vehicle. Finally, you should also carry an electric tire inflator in your vehicle for those times when the air is low. That prevents you from having to stop at multiple gas stations to find one that offers free air.

2. An Air Purifier

Air quality is a big deal, but we often consider where we spend most of our time like our homes or office at work. The air quality in our vehicles should be another major concern, but it’s easy to overlook. That’s okay, because there are smart air purifiers conveniently meant to be installed in cars, like the LUFTRUM with a H13 True HEPA filter.

Adopting a multi-stage filtration system, these devices essentially clean and filter the air by removing harmful contaminants and substances. Some examples include car exhaust fumes, volatile organic compounds (VOCs) and other odor-emitting sources. Every time you get in the car you’re breathing clean, fresh air and that makes a huge difference.

3. An OBD2 car scanner

Yes, we’re partial to diagnostics scanners, but they’re a valuable smart gadget to keep in your vehicle. The best option for most people is the Innova 1000, an excellent and easy-to-use scanner that syncs info to your smartphone. If you want something a bit more advanced, for working on your vehicle or nuanced guidance you can opt for the Innova 5610.

Either way, keeping a car scanner in your vehicle allows you to pinpoint when something is wrong. Otherwise, you’ll be looking at a bright check engine light, with no way to tell what the specific problem is.

4. A smart charger

Some newer vehicles come with USB charging ports, but that’s not a standard feature. More importantly, it’s not intuitive to fuss around with adapters and varying connectors when you’re just trying to charge your phone for the drive. Allow us to introduce you to fast-charging car chargers with USB incorporated.

Yes, they offer USB ports to charge your phone and tablets, but also support high-wattage output. In other words, they charge faster unlike your standard USB ports in the vehicle. Plus, with retractable charging cords you can reach more tech. You’ll learn to appreciate that if your kids or passengers brought devices along for the trip, too.

5. An electric cooler

For a longer road trip, if you’re bringing along snacks and drinks — or stopping to get some — you’ll want to toss a cooler in your car. But don’t just throw in any old cooler. No one wants to replace melted ice every few hundred miles. Opt for something like the Wagan 12-volt 6-quart cooler which plugs into the 12-volt DC port in your vehicle for power, to keep everything inside cold or hot. Yes, it warms food and drinks, too, if you’re in a cold region.

It’s like having a slim, personal mini fridge for your vehicle and it’s fantastic. Now, you never have to worry about chugging warm water. Gross. Instead, it’s ice cold to quench your thirst. That sounds much better, doesn’t it?

6. LED car lights

It gets dark inside vehicles at night, especially if you live in the country or you’re traveling to the middle of nowhere. Sometimes, that’s good for vision, compared to having the internal lights blasting a glare on the windshield. But if you want customizable, vibrant lighting you can absolutely make that happen with smart lighting like Govee’s LED car lights.

With smart app controls, multiple color and effect options, and simple installation, you can have the inside of your vehicle illuminated brilliantly in no time. It’s also fantastic if you’re traveling as a family — the kids will love it. Alternatively, you can grab some LED cup holder lights.

7. A portable espresso maker

When you need your coffee fix, unfortunately, you can’t always pull off the road and find a good, quality cup to toss down. Don’t fret. You can just make your own, provided you pack the supplies. But how will you actually brew the coffee, you ask? Try the WACACO Nanopresso portable espresso maker.

It’s manually operated, and easy to use. You can bring it with you camping, exploring, and on your family road trips for a quick espresso fix, anywhere. It takes finely ground coffee, which you can prep beforehand. Just make sure you have some packed in your vehicle and you’re good to go.

8. Apple Airtag or GPS tracker like Tile

Okay, this one is more for your keys than anything else, but if you’re constantly misplacing them, a GPS tracker is going to come in real handy. Both the Apple AirTag and Tile trackers are small enough to attach to your keyring without creating an annoying bulge in your pocket or bag.

Best of all, they sync with your mobile through a companion app to allow you to locate your keys at any time — or whatever you have the tracker attached to. You can even remotely ping the tracker from the app to make it play noise or vibrate depending on what brand you choose. Having one of these is a game changer. They’re also super helpful if you drop your keys or leave them somewhere outside of your home.

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