Car Genie: New AA device predicts car breakdowns before they happen

The AA has just launched Car Genie, a device that predicts vehicle breakdowns before they happen. It's designed to be self-installed, plugging into a car's on-board diagnostics (OBDII) port. This enables it to read the vehicle's EOBD (European On-Board Diagnostics) system in real-time and broadcast the information to the Car Genie app, which is available to download for free on both iOS and Android. According to the AA, which has been trialling Car Genie since April 2016, it will anticipate up to a third of breakdowns. "What we've been doing is analysing the fault codes that come from the device and the breakdowns that the connected members have had," Gareth Adams, the AA's connected car manager, told The Independent.