Emulate Car-net functionality locally?

[Phade]

Hey Everyone!

I've just picked up my first EV, a 2019 eGolf SE. YAY! However, I was sad to find Car-net does not work with my vehicle at all.

I would like to somehow emulate the basic functionality of Car-net localally to my home network. I am installing an Emporia EV charger which should give me some insight into the vehicle charge status. I know that there are Bluetooth OBD readers that can read vehicle parameters. Is there a combination of sensors that can give vehicle information to my local network, hopefully into a central data collector like Home Assistant? Can I swap out the obsolete 3G connector in the car with a regular WiFi connector? Is there anything else I could use to monitor/control my car while on my local home network?

Thanks for helping out a n00b!

 

[f1geek]

Hey Everyone!

I've just picked up my first EV, a 2019 eGolf SE. YAY! However, I was sad to find Car-net does not work with my vehicle at all.

I would like to somehow emulate the basic functionality of Car-net localally to my home network. I am installing an Emporia EV charger which should give me some insight into the vehicle charge status. I know that there are Bluetooth OBD readers that can read vehicle parameters. Is there a combination of sensors that can give vehicle information to my local network, hopefully into a central data collector like Home Assistant? Can I swap out the obsolete 3G connector in the car with a regular WiFi connector? Is there anything else I could use to monitor/control my car while on my local home network?

Thanks for helping out a n00b!

I remember getting an email from VW about a third party hardware solution to get the car onto 4G. I got rid of the email years ago. Best of luck!

 

[Phade]

Thank you for the reply!

I've never gotten (and probably won't get) an email about it since I am not the original owner and never signed up for Car-net from the beginning.

Does anyone have any knowledge or experience creating a "home-brew Car-net" out of add-on sensors (always-on OBD, other sensors)? I just want to know basic information like is the car locked, what is the battery charge level (without being plugged into the charger), what is the estimated remaining range, are the windows rolled up, is there a flat tire, is the trunk closed, and other general information.

I think this would be cool info to have when I'm at home.

 

[mpulsiv]

You can setup custom notifications in Emporia app to signal when e-Golf is charged.

Also, I use their home energy management and setup notification when my over has been running for more than 60 minutes. In case family members forget to turn it off.
https://shop.emporiaenergy.com/products/gen-2-emporia-vue-with-8-sensors-bundle

 

[Phade]

Yes, I plan on using the Emporia app for charging notifications. However, I'll probably only charge it once a week or so. What could I use to remotely check the charge level when not plugged in?

 

[mpulsiv]

Yes, I plan on using the Emporia app for charging notifications. However, I'll probably only charge it once a week or so. What could I use to remotely check the charge level when not plugged in?

Yes, you can perform any operation remotely.
start/stop charging
change amperage
set custom schedule
check amps/watts, cost of charging in real-time.
export raw data to CSV

I also have the cable retractor. Yes, it’s worth $200
https://shop.emporiaenergy.com/products/copy-of-emporia-ev-charger-mounting-kit

 

[Phade]

That's not quite what I meant.

I fully charge the vehicle on Monday. Today is Thursday and the car is at 34% remaining. How could I detect the car's remaining charge without plugging it into the charger?

My guess is that I need an additional sensor connected to the car to pull this information. What could I use for this situation?

 

[mpulsiv]

Emporia app is integrated with car-net (e.g., only supports I.D 4)

https://help.emporiaenergy.com/en/articles/9084262-smartcar-integration

The limitation of car-net:
www.vw.com/en/owners-and-/connectivity-and-apps/connected-services/remote-access.html

 

[Phade]

Yes, but my car is not integrated with car-net. This is the point of this thread.

I would like to have similar functionality of car-net without using car-net since my car can't use car-net.

 

[DepletedZPM]

I remember getting an email from VW about a third party hardware solution to get the car onto 4G. I got rid of the email years ago. Best of luck!

This seems to be the product. Intriguing that they say VAG is collaborating with them.

https://www.moj.io/news/mojio-launches-4g-connected-car-upgrade-program-for-3g-sunset/

I'll let the interested parties investigate and report back.

 

[Phade]

This sounds like an AI answer.

Which exact products and methods would generate these results? Are there "how to" videos/blogs showing the steps involved? I couldn't find any yet.

On a related note, I got the Emporia charger installed and it charges nicely. However, it just reports what the charger is doing (is/not charging) and does not read the vehicle information (percent complete, etc.); Emporia expects to connect to the vehicle cloud service for vehicle information. Are there other home chargers that read the vehicle information directly through the charging cable?

Thanks again for your help!!

 

[f1geek]

This sounds like an AI answer.

Which exact products and methods would generate these results? Are there "how to" videos/blogs showing the steps involved? I couldn't find any yet.

On a related note, I got the Emporia charger installed and it charges nicely. However, it just reports what the charger is doing (is/not charging) and does not read the vehicle information (percent complete, etc.); Emporia expects to connect to the vehicle cloud service for vehicle information. Are there other home chargers that read the vehicle information directly through the charging cable?

Thanks again for your help!!

There are services that can connect to vehicle data via internet/cloud, but will not work without a car 3G or 4G connection. OBD is only for local days to a phone or PC.