A self-proclaimed home automation enthusiast has been able to successfully add a Jaguar I-Pace to Apple’s HomeKit.
Siobhán Ellis has been a long-time Jaguar fan, and bought her used 2019 I-Pace after a recent move from the US to the UK. She began tinkering with it soon after, eventually integrating a HomeBridge plugin into Jaguar’s InControl API.
Doing so allowed Ellis to monitor, control, and automate some of the vehicle’s functions through the HomeKit app. Basic data like the temperature of the cabin and charging levels could be read.
She was also able to send commands to the vehicle, including to begin charging the battery and locking and unlocking the doors.
The setup also allows for some automation. Ellis was able to pre-condition the battery by using calendar events. It could also be used to unlock the car at a certain time of day.
It wasn’t easy to do. As Ellis points out on her website, getting the I-Pace to successfully work with HomeKit required a lot of manual configuration. But it does show the usefulness of being able to control the vehicle’s functions through HomeKit.
Apple doesn’t officially support any vehicle manufacturers through HomeKit. But after seeing this integration it isn’t far-fetched to think that they one day will.
