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CarPlay solution for Tesla by Michal Gapinski using Raspberry Pi with Android
- Thread starter timeshifter
- Start date
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- Tags
- android auto carplay
I have updated the homepage to include more info on the features and the project itself.
If anyone is interested in getting one you can use Tesla Android Project or the code teslamotorsclub for 20 EUR off. I am not doing mass production, those devices are built by me in Poland. I am also not doing any crowd funding - if the drop won't sell well I will refund anyone. The CM4s are provided directly by the Pi foundation and I can buy them at MSRP in boxes of 250 boards/
Personally my favorite use case is the S3XY buttons dashboard, I enjoy looking on the stats. TA is also what I would consider the ultimate router for Teslas since it never drops connectivity with the car and you can disable things that drain your data cap like FSD Telemetry and Updates.
Tons of people use it for Video in drive but I was never a huge fan, you can run any Android apps you like. The last two years and dozen of updates were mostly about making the experience as good as possible. It is very nice at the moment, but I am going to continue with trying to push even further.
The CM4 version also comes with external antennas for both cellular and Wi-Fi and I am 100% certain that it works better than Premium Connectivity for music streaming in the apps provided by Tesla.
If you have any questions feel free to reach out ([email protected]), on X or just ask ElectricAnt54 anything. He is the part of the crew that is doing beta tests for me
If anyone is interested in getting one you can use Tesla Android Project or the code teslamotorsclub for 20 EUR off. I am not doing mass production, those devices are built by me in Poland. I am also not doing any crowd funding - if the drop won't sell well I will refund anyone. The CM4s are provided directly by the Pi foundation and I can buy them at MSRP in boxes of 250 boards/
Personally my favorite use case is the S3XY buttons dashboard, I enjoy looking on the stats. TA is also what I would consider the ultimate router for Teslas since it never drops connectivity with the car and you can disable things that drain your data cap like FSD Telemetry and Updates.
Tons of people use it for Video in drive but I was never a huge fan, you can run any Android apps you like. The last two years and dozen of updates were mostly about making the experience as good as possible. It is very nice at the moment, but I am going to continue with trying to push even further.
The CM4 version also comes with external antennas for both cellular and Wi-Fi and I am 100% certain that it works better than Premium Connectivity for music streaming in the apps provided by Tesla.
If you have any questions feel free to reach out ([email protected]), on X or just ask ElectricAnt54 anything. He is the part of the crew that is doing beta tests for me
Have you tested against older model 3s that have poor antenna placement? (i.e. does the ability to use an external antenna mitigate those issues?) Currently, both Tesla Android and the various CarPlay dongles/solutions perform really poorly.
ElectricAnt54
Active Member
I'll be testing the premade compute module 4 bundle with external wi-fi antenna in my friend's older model 3 which currently has poor performance when using my Raspberry Pi setup that works great in my 2022 (built 12/2021) model y. @sbtz , feel free to message me perhaps in 1 month. I'll also post my findings this thread.
This has not been my experience at all. I have a 3/19 build and Tesla Android....located under the center console armrest and in a metal case with fan and set to 5G....has no issues at all connecting to the car wifi. Do you have the TA wifi set to use 5ghz and further disabled the TA BT?
ElectricAnt54
Active Member
You use a metal case? You are brave
. Those are known to block the weak raspberry pi 4B Wi-Fi signal a lot.Hmm, I do not think using 5Ghz was an option when I tested in my pals 2018 model 3. 2.5Ghz Wi-Fi has a stronger signal though so I figure that would be better in the older model 3. TA Bluetooth was probably on if that was default. Not sure how that would cause a slow down.
I have not seen my pal in a while & he did want me to help him update since his is so old it can’t do OTA updates…I’ll arrange to meet him one morning before Los Angeles traffic gets insane and give it another try with those suggestions.
ElectricAnt54
Active Member
I don't understand the GPS you're talking about. Is there a GPS app running on the Tesla-Android platform? If so, what does it do that you can't do with the native Telsa nav or CarPlay nav?
ElectricAnt54
Active Member
Background, Tesla android is more than just apple CarPlay. Some people want to use the android os instead. The tesla vehicle makes its gps info available to the tesla web browser so web pages can have an idea of where you are and offer relevant info, Much like how your home computer web browser knows your location. Since tesla Android runs within the web browser the tesla android gps functionality passes the web browser gps info to the tesla android system (raspberry pi / compute module 4) which allows android OS apps such as Google Maps, Waze to be used for navigation.
ElectricAnt54
Active Member
I drove around using Waze Android OS app last night, worked very well. Dev from Poland to Giga Berlin using, long drive, no web browser vanishing (crash) with this new version. Time for me to hook up my microphone to the Pi and see how well Google voice assistant works with Android OS Waze, a podcast app and Android OS Apple Music.
ElectricAnt54
Active Member
I drove around listening to Android OS Apple Music using lossless 44Khz media stored on Raspberry Pi MicroSD drive. Audio from Tesla android via browser audio option is 48Khz uncompressed transmitted via WIFI so no audio degradation added to the music due to Bluetooth. No audio skipping like the old days. I have a 2022 Model Y with Intel Atom HW3 infotainment (slower cpu).
Note if your Model 3 is older than 2021 then you'll need the compute module 4 based bundles which have exterior wifi antenna. Those older Model 3s have an anemic wifi antenna.
Note if your Model 3 is older than 2021 then you'll need the compute module 4 based bundles which have exterior wifi antenna. Those older Model 3s have an anemic wifi antenna.
ElectricAnt54
Active Member
My compute module 4 bundle arrives tomorrow. Next step, schedule some time with my pal who has the 2019 Model 3.
In my opinion it is overkill in that case. In fact, I think the T2C is a better solution for CarPlay. In my experience CarPlay connects more reliably than the Tesla Android setup. And when the T2C doesn't connect CarPlay the fixes are very predictable. Not the case with Tesla Android. When I couldn't get a CarPlay connection with Tesla Android there was a lot of futzing around and could never predict which reboot or unplug or whatever would work. I haven't used Tesla Android since about January, so maybe it's improved in that department now.
For me at least with Tesla Android, after trial and error I discovered that unplugging and plugging the carlinkit dongle would always 100% reconnect CarPlay. Annoying and difficult when driving so I got a magnetic USB-C connector (couldn’t find any USB-A magnetic connectors so also got USB-A to USB-C adapters) and positioned it in the center console so I could easily break the magnetic connection while driving if needed and then it would reconnect on its own (the magnets are really strong!) and that would fix the issue. Still a bit annoying especially if I had drinks in the cup holders and could not easily reach my USB-C magnetic connector.
Got the compute module and excited that this should no longer be an issue from what I understand. With the external antennas it seems to work just as well even in my frunk!
ElectricAnt54
Active Member
@timeshifter , I know you aren’t going to be going back to tesla android. That’s fine. Your goal was always get CarPlay in your tesla and you have tried many solutions
over the years. I had same goal but when I saw tesla droid could also do other things which interested me, I decided to stick with it. I use it 90% for apple CarPlay though.I do have to say, My raspberry pi 4B based tesla android iPhone to CarPlay connection experience has been great for a long time. I have two raspberry pi 4B setups and both work really well. I know you went through two carlinkit dongles with not much luck. Not sure if you ever updated rpi bios & tried a different pi. On Reddit and slack there hasn’t been too much mention of the carlinkit dongle/iPhone connection issues you went through in a while. I do remember when you (and many others) gave up on tesla android around January 2023 & got T2C. back then The dev implemented some ambitious changes related to how video and audio is streamed from raspberry pi to the tesla web browser & released it. The test crew was pretty much just the developer. The developer was busy with work and life and the community had a long wait of about a month & a half for a stable release also some new updates to android os which the project relies on required that the raspberry pi 4B hardware get a bios update if it was a bit older, without that update people couldn’t connect to the tesla web browser. So double trouble all at once. We could downgrade to the previous stable release and that’s what I did. It was after that turbulent time the developer created over the air updates and a dev tester code branch/community which tests for a few weeks before everyone else gets access. It’s been a much better experience since then.
Last week, the dev quit his day job and focuses on tesla android, the premade bundled hardware that he sells and some side work. Now that’s dedication.
Of note, Tesla Android doesn’t currently control the iPhone to CarPlay connection experience where you had trouble. That’s all handled by carlinkit’s cpc200-ccpa dongle and the autokit software (Not sure if carlinkit makes that). what seemed to help me was a specific version of autokit pairEd with specific version of dongle box firmware. These versions became the defaults over time. I am very weary of updating the carlinkit dongle firmware even if an update is available assuming everything is working fine. It is possible to downgrade I recently learned.
i think the autokit software (it controls communication with the carlinkit dongle) could be improved to reduce user anxiety / perception things are not working. For example, a recently released autokit on carlinkit’s web page tries to make connection tins so often that 50 warnings are printed before a connection happens. Most people would instantly start fidgeting with their phone and thus thwarting the process. Instead, if I wait a bit, the connection was made. As a result, I downgraded to previous version which Tesla android used which is a bit less aggressive and ended up connecting faster in long run
. Because the social engineering is lacking in autokit, there is an active investigation to utilize open source projects which replace autokit.
ElectricAnt54
Active Member
I rarely would have to unplug carlinkit dongle and plug it in. On long trips when connection dropped it would be after hours of continuous usage & it auto reconnectEd.
The dongle getting too hot has been an explanation. Mine gets hot but I rarely have issues. A few people popped open the case and stuck the electronics to their pi case and slapped a heat sync on the carlinkit dongle’s cpu, it’s a mini linux computer I believe. I opened my old wired only carlinkit for practice
. Not sure if that helped the people. I can ask the fellow in reddit community.Thanks for the informative reply @ElectricAnt54 I actually built the current Tesla Android about three weeks ago, had it all ready to go but remembered that my SIM had been shrunk to the size that fits the T2C from the standard size that fits the USB dongle. I think I have or can get an adapter but got busy with other things. I have to have connectivity, so running without a cellular connection is not an option.
ElectricAnt54
Active Member
if younhave access to a 3D printer, I can link some free SIM card adapters I found on thingyverse. I printed one for free at my public library when I was testing my iPhone’s sim in the Alcatel lte usb modem. The stores wanted $12.
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