TeslaMate [megathread]

[Roy W.]

Moderator comment - thread renamed from "TeslaMate update"

As some of you will know, I’ve been using the open source Tesla data logger called TeslaMate since the beginning of February. I’ve been very pleased with it, and it has run faultlessly since I first installed it, and subsequently through half-a-dozen updates.

I’ve just installed the latest version, which is quite a major update, as it now uses the streaming API from Tesla, and so doesn’t need to wake the car at all. This means there is no chance of losing the first part of the drive data.

You can find more details here:

Docker install | TeslaMate

For those of you with more knowledge than me, here’s an excerpt from the release notes:

Enhancements
Streaming API
As the first and only Tesla logging app out there, TeslaMate now use the Tesla streaming API! This brings the following improvements:

• High precision drive data. Rather than active polling, the streaming API allows for passive consumption of a high frequency data stream with the most important drive data (position, heading, speed, power, elevation etc.).
• Actual elevation above sea level. Up until now TeslaMate used satellite terrain data to get the elevation. Driving through tunnels or across a bridges therefore resulted in inaccurate recordings. This is no longer the case!
• Bluetooth hints are no longer needed! Using the streaming API does not prevent the vehicle from falling asleep, thus enabling continuous monitoring. This allows the car to fall asleep more quickly (no more idle timer) and we don't miss up to 21 minutes of driving because of halted polling.

 

[Durzel]

This looks great. The only problem I've got is that I haven't got anything at the house at the moment running 24/7 that I could use for this.

 

[elastictangent]

This looks great. The only problem I've got is that I haven't got anything at the house at the moment running 24/7 that I could use for this.

I've not tried it yet but you can run Docker on a Raspberry Pi. Might be a cheap option?

 

[Durzel]

Yeah could do. I've got a Windows machine that I use for a media PC, could use that potentially...

 

[davidmc]

As some of you will know, I’ve been using the open source Tesla data logger called TeslaMate since the beginning of February. I’ve been very pleased with it, and it has run faultlessly since I first installed it, and subsequently through half-a-dozen updates.

I’ve just installed the latest version, which is quite a major update, as it now uses the streaming API from Tesla, and so doesn’t need to wake the car at all. This means there is no chance of losing the first part of the drive data.

You can find more details here:

Docker install | TeslaMate

For those of you with more knowledge than me, here’s an excerpt from the release notes:

Enhancements
Streaming API
As the first and only Tesla logging app out there, TeslaMate now use the Tesla streaming API! This brings the following improvements:

• High precision drive data. Rather than active polling, the streaming API allows for passive consumption of a high frequency data stream with the most important drive data (position, heading, speed, power, elevation etc.).
• Actual elevation above sea level. Up until now TeslaMate used satellite terrain data to get the elevation. Driving through tunnels or across a bridges therefore resulted in inaccurate recordings. This is no longer the case!
• Bluetooth hints are no longer needed! Using the streaming API does not prevent the vehicle from falling asleep, thus enabling continuous monitoring. This allows the car to fall asleep more quickly (no more idle timer) and we don't miss up to 21 minutes of driving because of halted polling.

Do you use a NAS drive and which one? I did have a QNap one but is bust so looking to get a new one soon, but heard either QNap or Synology does not run docker? Not sure which one.

 

[Beady3647]

This all sounds great to me but......

I have very limited knowledge of installing programmes (and the like) onto my PC. I'm not a complete idiot can anybody give me, on a scale of 1 to 10 the degree of difficulty to get up and running and whether a standard PC is sufficient please?

 

[Roy W.]

I've not tried it yet but you can run Docker on a Raspberry Pi. Might be a cheap option?

That’s exactly what I use. I must admit I did have to buy a Pi 4 to run it on, costing me about £50. I did have a 2013 vintage Pi which I tried, but it wasn’t up to the job!

I’m certainly no Pi/Linux expert. I know PC and Mac quite well, but my only dabbling with the (2013) Pi was trying it as a media player. The setup is quite well documented, and I was given some very valuable pointers by long-lost @Jeremy Harris which helped me enormously.

My new Pi 4 has been running 24/7 since the beginning of February, in my network cupboard in the kitchen. I upgrade TeslaMate remotely using Termius on my iPad to SSH into the Pi and run the upgrade script.

 

[Roy W.]

Do you use a NAS drive and which one? I did have a QNap one but is bust so looking to get a new one soon, but heard either QNap or Synology does not run docker? Not sure which one.

I do have a NAS, but that’s an old Buffalo one about as old as the original Pi, and I only use it for media streaming. I don’t like the idea of having to leave a PC or Mac running 24/7, so thought the Pi was an elegant solution.

 

[Durzel]

That’s exactly what I use. I must admit I did have to buy a Pi 4 to run it on, costing me about £50. I did have a 2013 vintage Pi which I tried, but it wasn’t up to the job!

I’m certainly no Pi/Linux expert. I know PC and Mac quite well, but my only dabbling with the (2013) Pi was trying it as a media player. The setup is quite well documented, and I was given some very valuable pointers by long-lost @Jeremy Harris which helped me enormously.

My new Pi 4 has been running 24/7 since the beginning of February, in my network cupboard in the kitchen. I upgrade TeslaMate remotely using Termius on my iPad to SSH into the Pi and run the upgrade script.

View attachment 534149

Nice. What is that case? Did you buy it as an all in one unit?

 

[Roy W.]

Nice. What is that case? Did you buy it as an all in one unit?

It an Aluminium Armour heatsink case from the Pi Hut, which is where I bought the Pi. The Pi 4 needs a decent heatsink, so rather than get a plastic case and a separate heatsink or fan I thought this would be good. It is just slightly warm to the touch, running 24/7 inside a cupboard!

Aluminium Armour - Heatsink Case for Raspberry Pi 4

 

[Russinating]

What does your web interface look like Roy (ie how are you visualising the data)?

 

[Medved_77]

So is the main USP for TeslaMate vs TeslaFi that fact that you keep all of your data locally?

I use docker-compose for work, so may give this ago, however the cloud option does seem more convenient to me.

 

[wooter]

So is the main USP for TeslaMate vs TeslaFi that fact that you keep all of your data locally?

I use docker-compose for work, so may give this ago, however the cloud option does seem more convenient to me.

There's nothing holding you back using the TeslaMate docker compose in the cloud.

Main USP for me seems that not only is your data local, but you are also in charge of presentation through the Grafana presentation layer. Filtering options are more flexible than Teslafi.

 

[Durzel]

TeslaMate screenshots look pretty nice. TeslaFi looks like a website from the mid-2000s. Not the worst thing in the world, but it does stand out as unusually bad when it's so easy to knock together a clean interface with minimal effort using various open source web frameworks available today (Bootstrap springs to mind).

Regards that Pi - being only aware of them and having never bought one.. I'm shopping on Pi Hut and it's not immediately obvious whether the standard Pi comes with a power supply? There is one available seperately for £8... Also, I guess I will need an SD card to store TeslaMate on, within the Pi? Or does it come with enough built in storage?

 

[drewpost]

Has anyone tried importing the data into Elasticsearch and visualising in Kibana instead of via Grafana?

 

[wooter]

TeslaMate screenshots look pretty nice. TeslaFi looks like a website from the mid-2000s. Not the worst thing in the world, but it does stand out as unusually bad when it's so easy to knock together a clean interface with minimal effort using various open source web frameworks available today (Bootstrap springs to mind).

Regards that Pi - being only aware of them and having never bought one.. I'm shopping on Pi Hut and it's not immediately obvious whether the standard Pi comes with a power supply? There is one available seperately for £8... Also, I guess I will need an SD card to store TeslaMate on, within the Pi? Or does it come with enough built in storage?

Generally you need to account for an SD card (preferably because its faster) or USB stick (slower) to store the OS on, a power supply, a housing and maybe also a mini-HDMI connector and mouse and keyboard if you want to boot it up with a desktop first. It's possible to use it "headless" without screen and keyboard, but that's quite steep for beginners.

 

[Roy W.]

Regards that Pi - being only aware of them and having never bought one.. I'm shopping on Pi Hut and it's not immediately obvious whether the standard Pi comes with a power supply? There is one available seperately for £8... Also, I guess I will need an SD card to store TeslaMate on, within the Pi? Or does it come with enough built in storage?

No storage on the Pi. For beginners the easiest is to buy a micro SD card from your Pi vendor with the official NOOBS software installed. Or there are clear instructions for creating your own on the web. The Pi is just that - the barebones computer. It uses a USB-C power supply, but as far as I remember needs 3A at 5V. I’d already got a usb keyboard and mouse in my cupboard that I used for setup. Because I use an iMac as my desktop computer I’ve got no separate monitor these days, so I just plugged it into the 55” tv using HDMI. (The Pi 4 uses a rather odd micro-HDMI output, but luckily it is the same as the cable with one of my digital cameras. If you don’t have the right power supply or cables they are all available quite cheaply.)

 

[Roy W.]

What does your web interface look like Roy (ie how are you visualising the data)?

Here’s a selection of screenshots, addresses removed. So far I’ve only used the provided reports. Presumably if you’re very, very clever you can write your own additional reports using Grafana.

 

[Roy W.]

So is the main USP for TeslaMate vs TeslaFi that fact that you keep all of your data locally?

I use docker-compose for work, so may give this ago, however the cloud option does seem more convenient to me.

Yes, all the data is local, or cloud-based if you go down that route. I’ve used the simplest setup, so mine is only available within my home network, so no access over the internet when I’m out and about. That suits me fine.

 

[Russinating]

Nice. I didn't renew either of my Teslafi or Teslastics subscriptions because I felt they just lacked features. One big one for me was total charge cost, for example, and general overview/dashboard totals. Not to mention the UI for Teslafi is god awful.

I'm fairly ok with reading databases and PHP, Ajax and such so might be an interesting project. I don't mind the data being logged if it's free if I only get around to the above later on...

Certainly an excuse to get a Pi as well!