Our Long-Term 2025 Ram 1500 Spills Its Guts

Back in our Update 2 accessorizing story we mentioned connecting a DIMO LTE R1 device to our 2025 Ram 1500 Laramie’s OBD II port to record and share data. In this update, we’re poised to share an unprecedented amount of granular driving data with you, dear readers. You’ll be able to go back and ride along on every road trip, view tank mpg averages versus ambient temperature, read an AI analyst’s assessment of our Ram’s performance, and more. It’s all presented right here because we’re sharing it with you—with no monetization!

Who Cares About This Data?

A few years ago, automakers rubbed their knuckles scheming to sell your data for billions of dollars. That has not panned out (in fact, sharing data without customer consent just cost GM $12.75 million in a California Consumer Privacy Act settlement). But selectively sharing your own data directly with various entities could make your own driving life cheaper and more convenient. This DIMO device, connected via its own cellular modem—and the blockchain protocol behind it—is what makes this possible.

How Data Could Save You Time/Money

Real-time driving data sharing can lower insurance premiums today, and location info can make paying for tolls or parking easier and/or cheaper (DIMO is poised to roll out an Agentic Parking Payment system that will pay any relevant local parking authority on your behalf). For OEMs that choose to integrate DIMO into their electrical architecture, data could be interpreted to enable predictive maintenance and repair savings, to speed warranty and recall processing, and expedite theft recovery. Granular vehicle usage transparency could even enhance resale value someday.

What’s Our Data Telling Us?

Over the 263 days and 10,428 miles during which the DIMO device was installed, it recorded 93,724 OBD health checks and 3.9 million sensor readings. They paint a picture of a weekend-warrior truck that was driven enthusiastically enough that it might not have qualified for insurance discounts, logging 2,534 “hard braking” events, 1,161 “harsh corners,” and a 103-mph top speed. The harsh braking and cornering can even be plotted on a “heat map” that could point to potential culprits. And if this were our own truck and we were wondering whether use-based insurance might save us money, this data could have answered that (no) while preventing potentially negative insurance consequences that might have come from plugging in an insurance company’s tracker. Other findings:

• DIMO reads and reinterprets the fuel gauge signal, which it matches against the GPS distances traveled (not the truck’s odometer). This data computed a 15.77-mpg average —about 1 mpg lower than what the odometer-reported miles divided by actual gallons dispensed during this period suggest. It’s considerably more accurate than the onboard computer’s fuel-injector pulse-width-based calculations, which exaggerate mpg.
• Our 77 cold starts included only 12 remote starts averaging 10 minutes each—on the worst of which (3 degrees F) the heater core achieved operating temperature in 3 minutes 22 seconds. (I am ecologically opposed to remote starting.)
• The four towing trips we recorded for Update 4 were easily teased from the data by isolating both lower-than-average fuel economy and higher-than-average engine rpm/mph. Note that a false alarm that met the latter criterion alone was recorded when someone accidently bumped the gear-limiter button on the steering wheel.
• Five days of holiday road-trip travel accounted for 28 percent of our mileage.

New DIMO Applications

Any true data nerd should connect to DIMO. Teslas can connect directly; others need the $100 OBD dongle, then all pay an $8.99/month connectivity subscription. Data normies may benefit from a newer application of the technology: fleet management. Owners with vehicles listed on car-sharing apps like Turo can outfit their fleet with DIMO devices that simplify access management (allowing the owner to share digital keys when available or simply unlock the vehicle to grant the renter access to the physical key), help monitor location, usage, be notified of an accident, etc.

Big Red will be leaving us soon, but at least this time we’ll be able to go back and relive the great trips we took by reviewing the data.

More on Our Long-Term 2025 Ram 1500 Laramie 4x4:

• Arrival: Damage Done, Ready for Fun
• Update 1: Spring Forestry Ritual
• Update 2: Accessorizing
• Update 3: V-8 Envy?
• Update 4: Trailering Deep Dive
• Update 5: Off-Roading a Street Truck
• Update 6: Road-Tripping Big Red
• Update 7: Passenger Screen Usefulness