Ring stops selling its Car Cam dash cam

Ring confirmed to The Verge that it has stopped selling its Ring Car Cam, a dashcam / security camera hybrid that records the road and the driver while in motion and acts as a security camera when a vehicle is parked. The product, which launched at CES 2023, has been hard to come by since going on sale last January, and customers who tried to purchase one in the last few months are finding those orders canceled.

“We’ve experienced ongoing delays with Car Cam and have decided to stop the sale of the device,” Ring spokesperson Andrea McDonald told The Verge in an email. “Customers who purchased a Car Cam will continue to receive software updates and support. We remain excited about opportunities to innovate in the auto space.”

McDonald declined to elaborate on what type of delays or whether Ring will resume sales in the future.

As I noted in my review, the Ring Car Cam had a novel approach but seemed to fall between two stools. It wasn’t that useful if you wanted a dedicated dashcam (thanks to low video quality and high monthly fees), and as a security device for protecting your car, it felt like overkill. It also didn’t capitalize on its Ring and Alexa connections, with limited integrations and few voice-enabled features.

In an email Amazon sent to Verge reader Henry Williams canceling his order for the device, it shared a similar response to Ring’s, citing “ongoing delays with Ring Car Cam’s availability.” He had placed the order in October, but it was delayed until December and finally canceled this week.

Screenshot courtesy Henry Williams

Posts on Reddit and Ring’s support page indicate people have had trouble getting the device since it first went on sale in January 2023. One Redditor ordered theirs on January 31 and canceled the order after being told July was the earliest it would arrive. Another ordered one in March and was told it wouldn’t arrive until October. Now, it appears all of those orders have been canceled.

Based on online reviews, the Car Cam did ship to some customers early on, but since that initial rollout, the product has been essentially vaporware.

Updated Saturday, February 24, 8:45 AM: Added a screenshot of the email Amazon sent to a Ring customer canceling his order.