Gauging Interest in a "Charging Reminder Service"

[wildag]

I'm a long time software developer and a 2x Tesla owner. One of the experiences my wife and have both had is that if we forget to plugin the vehicle for two days in a row, then we probably won't make it to work and back the next day. This happened recently, and so I started looking around for a "charging reminder service". I tried to find an app, Alexa skill, or device that would somehow notify us that "it's past 8PM and your car isn't plugged-in" (or something similar). But after much searching, I've not found that feature in any service - wish TeslaFi had it.

So here's my pitch to create such a service, and I'd like your feedback on the proposed features. The first version of the service would be very slimmed down, so this is just a starting point.


1) Costs $12 a year per Tesla account (not car), paid yearly upfront via PayPal or some such service. (Servers to run this aren't free, and software developers should be paid for their time)

2) You visit a website, sign-up with your phone number, and then provide your Tesla Email and Password (tokens are available, but I'd want my wife to be able to do this, and she's never going to figure out the token thing).

3) On the website you specify a minimum desired driving range (minimum charge), and a time of day at which to begin checking whether the vehicle is plugged-in.

4) On the website you select your notification method. Text message, Email, Alexa Notification, Honk the car's horn. (other suggestions?)

5) The notifications will not occur if the vehicle is being driven, and the status will be checked until the vehicle has been parked for 10 minutes or so (allowing time to plugin after parking without notifications).

6) You can reply to the notification to "snooze for a while" or to "skip reminders today".

When replying with suggestions, please include the number of the feature above for clarity.

Thanks for your thoughtful and on topic feedback.

 

[wildag]

Oh, and if you reply to this thread within the next 10 days, I'll give you the first year of the service free.

 

[Ritu_o0o]

Oh, and if you reply to this thread within the next 10 days, I'll give you the first year of the service free.

I replied.... so my first year is on you till then I am happy with my alarm!

 

[wildag]

I replied.... so my first year is on you till then I am happy with my alarm!

Well done! So it shall be.

Any thoughts or suggestions?

 

[LAtimesup]

free? count me in

 

[BigD0g]

Because setting a location reminder when you get home to charge your car is to free and easy and doesn’t give you my credentials?

 

[wildag]

Because setting a location reminder when you get home to charge your car is to free and easy and doesn’t give you my credentials?

Agreed it’s free and easy. But it’s also an alert most people would grow to ignore for all the “false positives”. So instead of paying attention to it, people would self train to ignore it.

Thanks for the feedback!

 

[bonnie]

Agreed it’s free and easy. But it’s also an alert most people would grow to ignore for all the “false positives”. So instead of paying attention to it, people would self train to ignore it.

Thanks for the feedback!

For what it's worth, I've never had an issue with forgetting to plug in - and that's almost daily since February 2011.

I'm sure that would be helpful for some people, but there's no way I'd hand out my Tesla account information. (Nothing personal - it just gives someone far too much control over my vehicle. They can stop it from charging, honk horns, know the location... AND start it. I'm just not that trusting of people I don't know.) But it appears there are plenty of people that would do so, so that's prob not a major stumbling block.

If you do go forward with this & put in the effort - consider that Tesla may very easily add this to their app & then all your effort is for naught. I know a couple of developers created 'Camper Mode', which is no longer necessary because now you can choose to leave climate settings on. Owners would be better off requesting this as a feature and getting it on Tesla's priority list, if people are forgetting regularly to plug in when they get home.

 

[wildag]

Bonnie, agreed about the risk of Tesla implementing. In fact, I’m sure they will one day. Thanks!

 

[tktktk]

Can't you set a calendar reminder to alert you daily at 8p and be done with it? You should remember if you plugged in your cars once the invite pops on your phone.
Seems like a lot of work for a (paid) use case. One that requires my credentials and can be solved in a multitude of ways....for free.

 

[Blup85]

I purposely installed my hPWC so the driver walks by the charger to enter the house, so it's routine. Like brushing my teeth when going to bed.. unless it's one of those nights when my friends come and visit and I wake up with my cloths on and damnit.. cars unplugged!

 

[animorph]

TeslaFi will send an email at a fixed time if you are not plugged in or have the charge limit set to 100%. It's in settings, notifications. TeslaFi is also working with Alexa, so a notification with Alexa may be possible to add.

 

[wildag]

TeslaFi will send an email at a fixed time if you are not plugged in or have the charge limit set to 100%. It's in settings, notifications. TeslaFi is also working with Alexa, so a notification with Alexa may be possible to add.

Ah! Good to know. That's not on their marketing site as far as I can tell.

 

[BerTX]

This is also a feature of Dashboard for Tesla.

Vendor - Dashboard for Tesla - the better app for your Tesla

 

[TexasEV]

Get out of car. Plug in. After about 3 times it becomes automatic to do it every time. Don’t think about if the vehicle “needs” a charge or not, just plug in every time you pull into the garage and let the battery management system manage the battery.

Remember, A connected Model S is a happy Model S

 

[GatorGuy]

I'd love to have a feature to notify you if your charge drops below a certain level and your car isn't is charging.

I'd love to say its as easy as simply plugging in when you come home but I have 3.5 year old twins and am not so naive to think I won't get distracted. Or coming home at 4am after working 12 hrs in the ER.

 

[wildag]

Thanks TexasEV. The reasons for not immediately plugging in are myriad (kids, fewer chargers than cars, distractions, etc). But it's always interesting to hear feedback. You still get free access for the first year if you want it

Gator Guy, thanks for the feedback as well. Do you have a preferred notification method? (Text, email, horn honk, Alexa notification, etc)

 

[GatorGuy]

Thanks TexasEV. The reasons for not immediately plugging in are myriad (kids, fewer chargers than cars, distractions, etc). But it's always interesting to hear feedback. You still get free access for the first year if you want it

Gator Guy, thanks for the feedback as well. Do you have a preferred notification method? (Text, email, horn honk, Alexa notification, etc)

The notification needs to goto the phone so either text or push notification. Ideally it would goto two phones, mine and my wife's.

 

[luckyj]

An option for folks who are into home automation is to do this with Homeassistant and the Tesla components, with a couple of automations. And then you can do all kinds of other stuff too.

 

[Mehdi]

Teslafi is doing that for me. I can set the charge limit and when the car is below that level it sends me an email. I believe he is also adding SMS capability.