Tesla Android Project for CarPlay and Android Auto

[focher]

I am about to start the project for “Tesla Android”. The developer’s site is at Home - Tesla Android Project.

If anyone else has done it, happy to learn from your experience and share mine.

For now, I’ve ordered the parts and will be starting next week.

 

[jmaddr]

I was thinking of doing this too. What model year do you have? I have a 19 with HW2.5 and am concerned with excessive lag.

 

[focher]

We have a 2018 Model 3P with HW3 (I upgraded to FSD) and a 2022 Model X. I have the initial version set up except the virtual touchscreen isn’t working so don’t know yet about any lag in the car.

 

[Yipsan]

Just installed the latest version. Following the install guide and everything went smoothly. I wonder if the 2 rpi might overheat as reported by some users.

 

[focher]

I got mine working too. There was something about the DHCP static IP assignment to the Android Pi that wasn't working. I deleted it and reapplied, unplugging the network cable in the process to get it to get a new assignment.

With the 2022.27 release and its removal of the need for the LTE modem, only issue I notice is audio when using Bluetooth / Wireless CarPlay. It has some poor quality issues. I will try with wired and see if that resolves, but I thought the audio was going direct from the iPhone to the car.

 

[jdle714]

I got mine working too. There was something about the DHCP static IP assignment to the Android Pi that wasn't working. I deleted it and reapplied, unplugging the network cable in the process to get it to get a new assignment.

With the 2022.27 release and its removal of the need for the LTE modem, only issue I notice is audio when using Bluetooth / Wireless CarPlay. It has some poor quality issues. I will try with wired and see if that resolves, but I thought the audio was going direct from the iPhone to the car.

Thanks for the updates. I too want to try this but the wireless dongle seems suspect to me in terms of connection time and sound quality. Wireless is a must for me so this doesn't sound promising. I would do it if it can be updated to 1 RPI and the wireless works well.

 

[focher]

Thanks for the updates. I too want to try this but the wireless dongle seems suspect to me in terms of connection time and sound quality. Wireless is a must for me so this doesn't sound promising. I would do it if it can be updated to 1 RPI and the wireless works well.

It’s very early days, and AutoKit - the software piece that actually provides the CarPlay support - is still in active development. I think the single RPI is coming very soon too.

 

[jdle714]

It’s very early days, and AutoKit - the software piece that actually provides the CarPlay support - is still in active development. I think the single RPI is coming very soon too.

I'll definitely keep an eye out.

 

[earthwormjim]

With the previous update (version 25), the software (via audio capture) is able to have audio come through your Tesla browser and bluetooth audio simultaneously. So things like GPS navigation alerts come through the browser, while music or podcasts or whatever you are listening to, can come through bluetooth.

Did you select bluetooth for audio within the carkit android software? If not, it might be passing all audio through the audio capture to browser audio path, which could explain the spotty audio quality.

I'm still on version 25, but so far I have not experienced any audio issues. Biggest issue I have is sometimes wireless carplay failing to connect, requires a reboot of the android pi, and slow bootup times. Would be nice to have a persistent power supply to the hardware.

This is 100% worth going through the hassle of setting up two Raspbery Pi computers. I would not (and did not) wait for the single Pi version. It is so nice having Waze on my screen, and not having to grab my phone to advance forward in playback, on apps that don't work with the steering wheel buttons.

 

[ochompsky]

wow this project has come a long way. with the latest update, it's much more reliable now and separate data plan requirement is removed (although has important disclaimers to read).

once he removes the requirement of two RPI's, this will be a perfect solution.

 

[earthwormjim]

Finally updated the Linux Pi to 2022.27.1. Holy crap, the stability is so much better. Also finally overclocked the Android Pi, much smoother carplay performance.

This project has really come along, and it's completely worth dealing with two Pis. The install process is so much simpler now too, especially for the Linux Pi. Really just loading the OS image onto the SD card and a couple of minor steps after. Way simpler than it initially was.

Only issue I'm having is that Waze alerts permanently pauses the Podcast app in iOS no matter what settings I check. It doesn't do this in cars with native Carplay support, so I'm not sure what the cause is. Unsure if it's my dongle doing it, or the nature of having audio streamed through BT and also sent over the browser. Simple enough to just hit the steering wheel play/pause button to get playback going again though.

 

[jdle714]

Wow, Tesla Android Carplay now only requires 1 RPI.

Release notes - Tesla Android Project

 

[JohnnyCroy]

Finally updated the Linux Pi to 2022.27.1. Holy crap, the stability is so much better. Also finally overclocked the Android Pi, much smoother carplay performance.

This project has really come along, and it's completely worth dealing with two Pis. The install process is so much simpler now too, especially for the Linux Pi. Really just loading the OS image onto the SD card and a couple of minor steps after. Way simpler than it initially was.

Only issue I'm having is that Waze alerts permanently pauses the Podcast app in iOS no matter what settings I check. It doesn't do this in cars with native Carplay support, so I'm not sure what the cause is. Unsure if it's my dongle doing it, or the nature of having audio streamed through BT and also sent over the browser. Simple enough to just hit the steering wheel play/pause button to get playback going again though.

Hate to bug here, but running into issues with connecting the Carlinkit wireless Carplay dongle. Got the pi setup and running nicely, wifi connected in but when I open autokit on the Pi unit, it never registers the carlinkit dongle. Any suggestions here on how to fix? Any help would be appreciated.

 

[snijjar]

Anyone here able to help set this up I am stuck at step 15. It reboots into the fast bootd menu and I can’t do anything as my terminal window seems to be stuck so I can’t run the rest of the commands

 

[earthwormjim]

Hate to bug here, but running into issues with connecting the Carlinkit wireless Carplay dongle. Got the pi setup and running nicely, wifi connected in but when I open autokit on the Pi unit, it never registers the carlinkit dongle. Any suggestions here on how to fix? Any help would be appreciated.

Can you link which dongle you bought? Which version of Tesla Android are you running, the two Pi one or the single Pi version?

Anyone here able to help set this up I am stuck at step 15. It reboots into the fast bootd menu and I can’t do anything as my terminal window seems to be stuck so I can’t run the rest of the commands

Hook up a monitor to the HDMI output on the Pi to see what its doing.

 

[TenKOhms]

Does the RPI broadcast an access point that you connect the tesla to and then visit a webpage hosted on the pi?

 

[ochompsky]

Does the RPI broadcast an access point that you connect the tesla to and then visit a webpage hosted on the pi?

yes

 

[snijjar]

Can you link which dongle you bought? Which version of Tesla Android are you running, the two Pi one or the single Pi version?



Hook up a monitor to the HDMI output on the Pi to see what it’s doing.

Thanks @earthwormjim I figured out the issue. One last question when a new build is released how do you update the image? Do I just download the new image and then use raspberry pi image to reflash. By doing this it doesn’t erase anything?

 

[Buster's Dad]

Can someone help me understand how this setup works? I'm very confused as to the functions of the different components. In particular:

1. The Geekworm TC358743XBG HDMI-CSI-2 - The hardware requirements say it's required for video capture. What video is it capturing -- output from the Pi? If it captures the output from the Pi, how does that get transferred to the car's browser?
2. How does the Pi get its connection to the Internet? Does it use my phone's Wifi hotspot?
3. Is the power output from the car's center console USB ports (mine's a 2022 M3) adequate for the Pi, its fan, etc?

Thanks for any light you all can shed on this!

 

[TenKOhms]

I'm wondering if this is done via installing android os onto a raspberry pi, could we just use an android phone to do the same thing? I have an extra android phone lying around and could add a sim card to it for lte/5g...