Installing your own dashcam

[pauls2909]

I am in the UK and have a 2 month old Nextbase 512GW dashcam, which I had fitted at Halfords. Fitting was good and webcam is EXCELLENT!
Does anyone know if it's possible to wire in a webcam using the electrics in the rear view mirror 'binnacle/assembly' - rather than having to have panels levered about and fed to the internal fusebox. I just don't feel confident and not that keen to have panels interferred with on a brand spanking new Model 3 which I'll soon be ordering.
Obviously, I know the model 3 comes with its own dashcam, but would rather use the nextbase if poss, especially as it's only 2 months old and cost a pretty penny!

 

[RayK]

There's a couple of threads here that discuss something like this. A quick search using Google (site:teslamotorsclub.com "model 3" dashcam"):

Dash cam DIY install Model 3
Dashcam Install Help

 

[afadeev]

Does anyone know if it's possible to wire in a webcam using the electrics in the rear view mirror 'binnacle/assembly' - rather than having to have panels levered about and fed to the internal fusebox.

Yes, but it will remain permanently powered ON with ignition OFF, draining the 12V battery.

The more interesting question is why!?!??
If you live in an area that is theft prone and needs extra security, then:
1). Use Sentry Mode.
2). Move.

Webcam, on top of Sentry Mode, is like wearing two condoms at the same time.
Certainly doable, but why!?!??

 

[SoCal Cal]

Yes, but it will remain permanently powered ON with ignition OFF, draining the 12V battery.

The more interesting question is why!?!??
If you live in an area that is theft prone and needs extra security, then:
1). Use Sentry Mode.
2). Move.

Webcam, on top of Sentry Mode, is like wearing two condoms at the same time.
Certainly doable, but why!?!??

FYI, I was in an accident and my Blackvue cam recorded the impact when Sentry basically skipped two minutes when the impact occurred. Not sure why that was, but the Blackvue had the footage that I needed. Got a new car when the old one was totaled and reinstalled the Blackvue on top of Sentry.

 

[SD_Engnr]

FYI, I was in an accident and my Blackvue cam recorded the impact when Sentry basically skipped two minutes when the impact occurred. Not sure why that was, but the Blackvue had the footage that I needed. Got a new car when the old one was totaled and reinstalled the Blackvue on top of Sentry.

This. Teslacam is not 100% reliable.
There are numerous stories where Teslacam failed to record the incident. I had an encounter where I was forced to suddenly accelerate due to a poorly merging vehicle. I immediately hit save, so I could review what happened, but that footage was not available. Somehow, the minute surrounding the incident was unavailable. This aligns with what many others have said

 

[focher]

A dedicated dashcam also records things like the time stamp and speed on the video itself. If you really want the functionality, the TeslaCam functionality cannot be considered even decent compared to a dedicated dashcam.

That said, I personally don't use anything more than TeslaCam.