OEM Looking Dashcam

[Mattzilla]

Does anyone have any experience with this?

Dashcam for Tesla Model S

I contacted the seller and apparently you can tap "always on" power and connect it that way pretty easily if you so desire. The standard install offers "only when the car is turned on" recording, however.

Quality looks decent. Not amazing, but in the event of an accident you can always clean up the raw footage via software.

Setup also looks simple.

 

[MoonChou]

Kmanauto did a review on the PCH dash cam.

 

[Mattzilla]

Kmanauto did a review on the PCH dash cam.

Saw that. Looks pretty good from his review. Was hoping to get some other opinions before I think about pulling the trigger, though.

 

[Holmes]

It seems very difficult to find any information on this product. I'm very interested in trying it over the BlackVue for a couple of reasons.

1. Something I can install that looks like it belongs to the car without tearing the car all apart to install it is a HUGE deal to me
2. I just want something simple, don't really feel that I need rear camera and all this other stuff

My only concern is whether this dashcam will work in the newer Model S cars with the updated enhanced AP.

Can anyone find any information on that concern?

Also interested in hearing about real usage experiences out there. I did read on the company's Facebook page that this camera will make an annoying chirp every time you start the car, but supposedly the company can send you some firmware to disable that "feature".

 

[Mattzilla]

It seems very difficult to find any information on this product. I'm very interested in trying it over the BlackVue for a couple of reasons.

1. Something I can install that looks like it belongs to the car without tearing the car all apart to install it is a HUGE deal to me
2. I just want something simple, don't really feel that I need rear camera and all this other stuff

My only concern is whether this dashcam will work in the newer Model S cars with the updated enhanced AP.

Can anyone find any information on that concern?

Also interested in hearing about real usage experiences out there. I did read on the company's Facebook page that this camera will make an annoying chirp every time you start the car, but supposedly the company can send you some firmware to disable that "feature".

The chirp can be disabled in the app. I have it turned off.

I made a video of a family vacation over Thanksgiving weekend using this dash cam. It shows the quality in a variety of settings, albeit 32x speed most of the time. Not amazing but it works for me and my purposes. Should still give you an idea if you are interested (make sure to watch in 1080 HD):

 

[Mattzilla]

I should add that I bought the Topfit version available on Amazon:

Amazon.com: Topfit Customized Car Dash Cam, Mini Driving Recorder,Rear View Mirror Camera for Tesla Model s after 2014 (Black): Car Electronics

 

[Holmes]

Video quality looks great. I'm primarily wanting it just for safety reasons.

Only thing I need to try to get an answer on now is will it fit the new style Model S. I saw they made a version for the Model X, and they state that the version you linked to works for Model S 2014 or later, but that was AP1 hardware ... and just concerned that AP2 equipped cars might have a wider mirror covering or different wiring or something due to the extra 2 cameras up there.

I emailed the first place you linked to, PCH Mobiltelefonservice AB, asking them; but now I'm feeling like they don't even make the product, and that Topfit makes the camera. So maybe I need to ask Topfit instead.

 

[pete8314]

Topfit don't make the camera either, they're sourcing from another Chinese factory that ripped off the original design by TeslaDashcam (out of Australia) that now appears to be defunct. I have one, there's no way it would be compatible with the AP2 array. Functionally it's actually quite good, fitting it was a little challenging in terms of the poor instructions and pulling the trim around, but easy for tapping the power. The app itself is not polished, and has a lot of Chinese elements. It does the job, and you do completely forget about it as it's completely out of sight.

 

[cynix]

another Chinese factory that ripped off the original design by TeslaDashcam (out of Australia)

I thought TeslaDashcam.com was also just another resller of this Chinese product.

 

[pete8314]

I thought it was the other way around, at some point in time I found a post where they (Tesladashcam) expressed their discontent about the design getting copied, but I can't seem to locate it now.

 

[Holmes]

That's disappointing. Looked like a great product, or at least the idea of a great product. I would really like a dash cam, and the seemingly Tesla-owner preferred BlackVue dash cam requires ripping the car all apart and splicing wires. Very not interested in that personally.

Guess I'll just have to hold off getting a dash cam for the time being until I can find a better option (or cave and install something like the BlackVue product).

 

[Holmes]

For anyone else looking at this product, I did just get confirmation from one of the resellers (or the manufacturer), this does not work on cars with the new enhanced auto pilot capabilities.

 

[Holmes]

One more follow up to this thread, PCH (the website linked up in the first post) just replied to me via email and stated that they hope to have the same solution for the MS with the newer hardware as well.

So maybe soon.

 

[jgallops]

I should add that I bought the Topfit version available on Amazon:

Amazon.com: Topfit Customized Car Dash Cam, Mini Driving Recorder,Rear View Mirror Camera for Tesla Model s after 2014 (Black): Car Electronics

Did this ship from China? If so, did you have to pay import duty on it? The Amazon Topfit order page seems to change from time to time and now it shows this as coming from China.

Thanks!

 

[scottm]

テスラ 電池車 ... nice touch

 

[Mattzilla]

Did this ship from China? If so, did you have to pay import duty on it? The Amazon Topfit order page seems to change from time to time and now it shows this as coming from China.

Thanks!

I had it in just a few days. Only paid the price listed on Amazon.

 

[jgallops]

テスラ 電池車 ... nice touch

LOL!!! You are the first person who has gotten it!!

 

[Dborn]

LOL!!! You are the first person who has gotten it!!

Tesura = Tesla?

 

[jgallops]

Tesura = Tesla?

Yes, in Katakana which the Japanese use for foreign words. The other 3 are Kanji (Chinese characters) which literally mean 電 = electricity
池 = pond (an electricity pond is a battery) and 車 which can translated as kart, or in this case car. So Tesla battery car in Japanese.

Native speakers would not parse the Kanji that way; simply battery car.

 

[ThisIsTrue]

This camera looks good, and certainly looks easy to install, but I'm not seeing (in the Amazon description) anything about GPS tagging of the files. My $100 POS camera (which I've had on my hybrid for a couple of years) does that, and I like the "proof" of location and time. Does this one have GPS?