OBD for work

[docjag]

Looking for a OBD adapter to track mileage and energy usage on my MS for work? Only thing I have found that seems to come close is the Panda adapter from comma.ai but I am unsure if this will work?

Have tried using the Visible Tesla program which works well but does an incomplete job tracking my driving.

Used the Automatic OBD in the past with my BMW which worked great and wrote all of my drive info to a google doc.

Any thoughts or help would be appreciated.

Josh

 

[navinsiri]

TeslaFi is great for tracking and logging. It’s $5/month and it’ll track more data about your drives and charges than you need.

 

[Icey]

TeslaFi is great for tracking and logging. It’s $5/month and it’ll track more data about your drives and charges than you need.

This is what I do - Works perfectly.

 

[docjag]

One of the advantages for an OBD is there are no subscription fees. TeslFi looks like a great program.

 

[hiroshiy]

The reason why everybody recommends TeslaFi is that Tesla's OBD2 doesn't have any signals there so you can't track mileage with OBD2, unfortunately. You can use CAN bus signals instead but you will need to write some software to create simple mileage reports.
Try searching TM-Spy and Scan My Tesla. I think the latter has more features. But honestly TeslaFi would be easier, because for CAN bus solution to work, you need a custom made Tesla Diagnostic Connector to OBD2 adapter, then Bluetooth or WiFi OBD2 transmitter and then you will need to have a smartphone in range to record data.
On the other hand, with TeslaFi, you just sign up and it automatically records everything for you, day and night.

 

[docjag]

Do you happen to know how often TeslaFi queries the car or if it will keep it from sleeping?

 

[navinsiri]

Do you happen to know how often TeslaFi queries the car or if it will keep it from sleeping?

There are many settings in TeslaFi. Normally it will keep connecting to the car, preventing it from sleeping, but you can set TeslaFi to allow the car to sleep during certain times or at set locations.

 

[docjag]

Yes, it looks like Tesla fi will keep the car awake unless you change the sleep settings. So in essence the program is not very different from visible Tesla. Only, visible Tesla is free to use.

This is where an OBD would be useful by transferring information only during active drives. Kind of why I'm looking for more information on the panda from comma.ai. Maybe too new for people that have much experience with it.

 

[docjag]

This brings up another question. How important is it for the car to sleep? Is there a big energy loss or is there associated degradation to the computer systems?

 

[hiroshiy]

This brings up another question. How important is it for the car to sleep? Is there a big energy loss or is there associated degradation to the computer systems?

If it doesn't sleep you will see higher standby power consumption- about two times higher.

By default TeslaFi allows your Tesla to automatically sleep. The developer put very high priority in sleeping so you can fine tune its sleep behavior. Strongly recommended.

 

[appleguru]

Yes, it looks like Tesla fi will keep the car awake unless you change the sleep settings. So in essence the program is not very different from visible Tesla. Only, visible Tesla is free to use.

This is where an OBD would be useful by transferring information only during active drives. Kind of why I'm looking for more information on the panda from comma.ai. Maybe too new for people that have much experience with it.

Teslafi does let the car sleep if you have your settings correct. With the default settings, it polls every 1 minute. Normally it will stop polling after you leave the car parked, for around 15minutes, which is enough time to let the car sleep. Then it starts polling again (which it can still do while sleeping).

RE the comma panda, I have been using one with my car for a while now. There actually is a useful CAN bus present on the OBD connector (the Chassis bus), it just isn't on the normal pins (It is on 1 and 9). @Kalud has made a "giraffe" adapter for the OBD port that allows you to plug the panda in and get the correct pins on the bus. It also keeps the panda nice and secure and hidden. I am working with him on a rev B version to support the camera switch mod and other applications in the future.

The downside to using Panda is there really isn't any software (other than the comma software) written for it yet. The good news is the python API makes writing such a logging tool pretty straightforward. Here's an example logger (for everything) I put together; you could modify it for your needs:

commaai/panda

 

[docjag]

Thank you. That's very helpful. I was hoping that the panda OBD was more developed. In playing around with the Tesla fi app I have the sleep mode enabled (with the standard settings) but I only see one minute of sleep in the past 8 or 9 hours. I have been working and not driving for most of that time. Not sure if that is a typical sleep period for the car or the car is not sleeping as a result of the polling / app.

 

[appleguru]

Thank you. That's very helpful. I was hoping that the panda OBD was more developed. In playing around with the Tesla fi app I have the sleep mode enabled (with the standard settings) but I only see one minute of sleep in the past 8 or 9 hours. I have been working and not driving for most of that time. Not sure if that is a typical sleep period for the car or the car is not sleeping as a result of the polling / app.

Do you have sleep mode enabled in teslafi under Settings -> Sleep Modes?

Also, per the instructions, to make sure your car sleeps, make sure you have these settings configured on your car:
1. 'Energy Savings' enabled
2. 'Always Connected' disabled
3. 'Cabin Overheat Protection' disabled.

(I have cabin overheat protection on, and I get good sleeping most days unless it is really hot)

 

[docjag]

Yes, sleep mode is enabled in TeslaFi under settings. I was curious to see how the car would be affected with the default settings. Energy-savings was disabled, always connected was disabled, and cabin protection was enabled. I am in Atlanta so the cabin overheat protection is a must in the summertime.

I changed the settings so that energy savings is now enabled. Always-connected is disabled.

Again, thank you for your help.