Aftermarket Tesla CarPlay and Android Auto Devices

[jerome8283]

I w

I'll tell you about my experience with it.

First, installation is a BITCH. That's because you have to get to the MCU in the passenger footwell and put in a jumper. I almost broke my neck and or my car doing it. Very nerve racking. I got it done by laying some boxes on the ground to make it level with the car so I could lay across the boxes and the floor of the car to get to it. If I had to do it again (just thinking of this now) I might remove the passenger seat first.

The other trim pieces and mounting are pretty easy.

Operation has a few pluses and minuses. The beautiful thing about this setup is it behaves like part of the car. When the Tesla screen comes on the Hansshow screen comes on. Turns off just the same.

CarPlay operation is a different animal. It doesn't play well with the Telsa like the T2C does in terms of routing things through Bluetooth (calls and other audio). You can get it to behave the same by playing / pausing audio sources with the steering wheel, etc. Sometimes it would stick, other times you'd have to do it again.

It usually connected to CarPlay without incident. When it didn't there were a few onscreen buttons to click to restart the unit which would resolve it just about every time as I recall.

Reaching around the steering wheel to operate a touchscreen is a horrible experience, probably not too safe.

I don't like having an extra display. Never felt like I was missing out by not having a center display. It doesn't offer anything I can't get from the main display.

I don't like the cluttered look and extra illumination at night. I like the simplistic look of one screen in the Tesla. The second one (Hansshow) makes it feel busy.

I was never sold with the Hansshow. Maybe because early on the experiences were terrible. They seemed to have gotten better but the items you mention are still a showstopper for me considering the cost. I have both Tesla-Android and T2C at a much lower cost.

 

[DB288]

Did you try what @Mandingo suggested? Also, did you try from a desktop?

i cannot get it to work…

as i said it’s got 3/7 firmware; wi-fi connects to tesla; bluetooth connects to device…set as carplay; iphone set as hotspot; iphone shows device as carplay vehicle…

it opens the tespush.com page…

it sees the device…

it just does not make that last step of passing through the carplay display…

periodically “connecting” comes on the tesla screen…my phone show the hotspot icon for a second…it just never connects

i have booted; rebooted; looked at any carplay or hotspot setting..

look at the tesla screen…it’s close…it says connect to the bluetooth but it is connected

 

[Mandingo]

@Mandingo is your car AMD or Intel?

Mine is a Feb 23 build so is AMD. The install looks easier since it doesn’t require direct connection to the MCU.

In terms of controlling CarPlay I saw a video that shows you can use the right scroll wheel to move around the UI instead of touch screen - was that easier?

He is using the scroll wheel here from 13m:30s:-

 

[Mandingo]

i cannot get it to work…

as i said it’s got 3/7 firmware; wi-fi connects to tesla; bluetooth connects to device…set as carplay; iphone set as hotspot; iphone shows device as carplay vehicle…

it opens the tespush.com page…

it sees the device…

it just does not make that last step of passing through the carplay display…

periodically “connecting” comes on the tesla screen…my phone show the hotspot icon for a second…it just never connects

i have booted; rebooted; looked at any carplay or hotspot setting..

look at the tesla screen…it’s close…it says connect to the bluetooth but it is connected

Unit may be faulty.

 

[jerome8283]

Unit may be faulty.

That’s my thought unless testing on a desktop shows a different result.

 

[timeshifter]

@DB288 have you tried substituting a laptop for the Tesla as a troubleshooting step? I’d give that a try.

Also have you tried a factory reset of the T2C? It’s on the About page.

 

[timeshifter]

Unit may be faulty.

It may be, but I had a similar problem two days ago. Been using the system without issue for maybe 6 weeks. Then one day I just couldn’t get it going. My symptoms were roughly the same. I got out of it by updating to 3/7 update.

 

[timeshifter]

In terms of controlling CarPlay I saw a video that shows you can use the right scroll wheel to move around the UI instead of touch screen - was that easier?

No. I couldn’t get that to work in a predictable manner.

My car is Intel based. I left that connector installed but took the rest of the system out. It came with an AMD harness.

 

[mclark2112]

I wouldn't be surprised if some of the issues are heat related. I see this a lot with small devices. Look at the tesla android project, you need some decent cooling for that, and I would guess this is the same. The fancy T2C case may have trumped adequate ventilation.

Just did another test with my PC, connects great. It does take a minute or two, but this little guy probably has a very minimal processor, so not surprised.

 

[jerome8283]

The tesla android no longer requires decent cooling. This was something the dev changed along the way. My case and fan are very small.

 

[ElectricAnt54]

Anyone here use T2C in 2018 or 2019 model 3? I don’t care about newer model 3’s. Was wondering where you ended up placing the T2C in the older model 3 in order to have responsive carplay interface? Older cars cars have different wifi antenna placements & range so curious if T2C has stronger wifi to compensate.

 

[randomwalk101]

I believe I got one with an old firmware (it doesn't have Android Auto). I tried upgrading the firmware but couldn't go to their website per their instruction (192.168.3.1).

 

[Mandingo]

I believe I got one with an old firmware (it doesn't have Android Auto). I tried upgrading the firmware but couldn't go to their website per their instruction (192.168.3.1).

Make sure your phone is paired and connected with the device before trying to get to 192.168.3.1 - it’s the local address of the device.

 

[randomwalk101]

Make sure your phone is paired and connected with the device before trying to get to 192.168.3.1 - it’s the local address of the device.

Yes, paired...tried several times on Android phone (Samsung S22) and a couple times on 2 iPads. Going to give it one last shot with an iPhone when my wife gets back...if still doesn't work, it's going back.

 

[randomwalk101]

Okay it worked. Need an iPhone to upgrade firmware... After that, android auto works! Not sure I'd keep it though.

 

[Mikecm1]

Can anyone help me out here, I’m so confused. Last week I bought a T2C direct from the carlinkit Amazon store, but they had 9 different product listings for Tesla, all with different prices. I read all the descriptions and cannot tell the difference between any of them. I’m pretty sure all of them said SIM + hotspot.

For example, here are 4 product listings from the official Carlinkit store:

1. Carlinkit Tesla Wireless Carplay Adapter for Tesla Y & Tesla 3, Plug&Play, 5G Chip, for iPhone Fastest Speed Wireless Apple Car Play Dongle, Auto Connect, Online Update, USB/Type C 2Cables https://a.co/d/aL9GSF4 - $129
2. CarlinKit 3.0 Tesla CarPlay T2C , Wireless Apple Carplay Adapter for Tesla Original System Cars, Plug and Play, sensorless Connection (Keep Your car Online), 2.4G+5G WiFi https://a.co/d/hNTymqE - $89
3. Tesla CarPlay CarlinKit 3.0 T2C Wireless CarPlay Adapter for Tesla's Original System car, Instantly Upgrade to Wireless CarPlay, Keep Your car Machine Online, (SIM Card not Included) https://a.co/d/3h6bTHx - $99
4. Carlinkit T2C 2023 for Tesla carplay Wireless Adapter, Tesla wirelessly Connect Apple carplay, The Latest Version for Tesla Model 3 and Model Y After 2019 https://a.co/d/fU9iAIe - also $99

I ended up buying the one for $89 since it was cheapest, but that item shows as no longer available on Amazon. Is it an old unit? Should I return it and get one of the other ones? It’s weird because it has the same availability date of November 3, 2022 as the $99 unit previously linked in this thread.

And on their site they had two listings:

1. CarlinKit Wireless CarPlay Android auto Mini Box Adapter For Tesla Model 3/X/Y/S CarPlay Wireless Activator Navigation Spotify Siri iOS16 New
2. T2C Carlinkit Mini Carplay Android Auto Wireless Wifi Box Bluetooth Adapter For Tesla Model 3/X/Y/S Apple Carplay Dongle OTA Online Update

One is $89 and one is $139 and when I looked last week the product descriptions were identical. I did email them asking about it so maybe they’re updated now, havent checked yet.

I am so confused.

Thanks.

 

[mclark2112]

I think the one you got will be fine, maybe the same one I bought. You can test it with your laptop, and upgrade the firware from there too. As long as it can get the latest firmware, you should fine.

 

[jerome8283]

Really bad advertisement!

The $89 #1 above comes without the SIM option which is why it’s cheaper. It only show’s the Bluetooth connection method. You purchased the correct one.

If you scroll down on #2 you will see mention of two connection options. See the attached pic. #1 does not show this.

 

[Mikecm1]

Really bad advertisement!

The $89 #1 above comes without the SIM option which is why it’s cheaper. It only show’s the Bluetooth connection method. You purchased the correct one.

If you scroll down on #2 you will see mention of two connection options. See the attached pic. #1 does not show this.


View attachment 917679

The $89 one I bought does have sim though. Here’s a pic of the box:

 

[mylapore]

For the sim card option, can I use any working sim? I have a spare one lying around from one of those free extra lines that T-Mobile was offering earlier - would it be compatible with this device?