Get an OBDII Dongle For Your EV!

[@madcow3417]

This video would have been great a couple days ago :p On a whim I replaced my 10-15 y/o OBD device with that same Vgate module last week and it wasn't able to connect to my Nissan Leaf's ECU in Torque Pro. I threw it in the back seat to play with on warmer days. A couple days ago my car died while I was driving it. It went from Drive to Neutral at 55 mph. As expected, Torque didn't work. Car Scanner app for Android connected, but my car gave out a dozen useless error messages. I measured my 12V battery with a multimeter, it was 11.5V. I Uber'd home, grabbed an external battery and lab power supply, came back, and charged it back up. When I got home I watched your 7 year old video on Nissan Leaf 12V batteries. I'm still not 100% sure if it's the battery or the charging system, but I'm driving around with a bunch of equipment hoping to catch the next failure. Either way I thought I was done with lead acid batteries leaving me stranded. I built an LTO battery for my ICE car, and I'm replacing this one with a Sodium Ion battery... in a month or two when I can get one shipped from China.

[@ab-tf5fl]

I've found the OBD reader to be quite useful in understanding some details about the Chevy Bolt's energy consumption and related displays. For example, with an OBD reader, you can quickly see that 1) the "idle" energy consumption is actually much less than 1 kW, even though the dashboard says 1 kW, 2) the window defogger sucks up a low of energy, 3) The number of bars in the battery meter corresponds to the displayed state of charge, round *up* to the nearest 5%. Also, if you're ever in a position where you're down to 5% or less and the guess-o-meter shuts off, the OBD reader is the best way to tell how much exactly you've got left.

[@christophersiano969]

OBDeleven has a fantastic interface to my e-tron. Not only amazing diagnostics, but lots of access to programming features that the car didn't come with.

[@Whole_Leash_It]

I have the VCDS for my e-Tron.

[@Dactylonian]

I got an OBDLink MX+ as a gift. I’ve tried their app, eFlow, OBDEleven, and CarScanner. CarScanner is the only app that connects to my 2021 e-tron, and even then I can’t decipher the list of parameters. For example, which one is high voltage battery power so you can see kW while charging. Which one is high voltage battery real net kWh life remaining (degradation). What other parameters do you guys (e-tron owners) recommend.

[@markiliff]

Excellent! It's been niggling at me that people talk about OBD2 from time to time and I really ought to find out what's what. You've done that for me. Thank you. If you don't like _under the hood,_ there's _behind the scenes_ or _backstage_

[@georgepelton5645]

Thanks Nikki for this helpful video. The history part at the beginning was interesting. Stay strong and take care.

[@rf-10000]

The Bluetooth classic OBD-II dongles usually don't work with iOS. You need a special license from Apple which is too expensive for most dongle vendors to get. BLE has no such restrictions and works with both iOS and Android. Recommend going with BLE. Check with the mobile software you plan to use which dongle brands they support.

[@64Pomboy]

I got one of these to check my 2012 Mitsubishi Outlander PHEV drive battery. Its health was below the guarantee they made during marketing and they replaced it with a new one. Took a lot of negotiating with the dealership because at the time they didn’t have much experience. I’m in Australia and they had no choice but to replace it. They did charge their marketing a few years in. So they’re definitely worth having. Great show thanks. ❤

[@rklauco]

This is the video worth being patreon for. Thanks!

[@pdculbert]

Thanks! I find it particularly useful to look at the battery temperature as that limits DC fast charging when it’s cold. It is also interesting to compare the dashboard-displayed battery state of charge with the actual BMS state of charge.

[@ab-tf5fl]

Yup. Another interesting trick, if you're not sure what the battery temperature range for fast charging is, is to look at the wattage going to the battery heater while you're plugged in. If the battery heater is running, that's a good indicator that the battery temperature is too cold to achieve maximum charging speeds.

[@TheD3cline]

great vid. I did this on my ICE car a lot since it was a BMW and am about to dive in with my leaf. as a tech bro I already know a lot of this, but I think its important for the general public.

[@EverydayRoadster]

OBD2 is good not only for diagnosis, but also for fun. Apps like Harry’s LapTimer bring together car internals, GPS recording and video for the fun of it. I believe they recently enhanced the App for EV functionality as well. One point to watch out for with those dongles is the form factor, especially if the intend is to keep them plugged while driving. Some dongles may interfere with legs, depending on the position of the car’s port.

[@normt430]

Please keep the tech videos coming. They are your best one's!

[@WooShell]

I'm using a Vgate Pro dongle with my Ioniq5, and being able to provide screenshots from Torque Pro regarding overheating battery packs during DC fast charging took a lot of time and debugging out of having my cooling pump replaced under warranty. Normally I would have handed the car in for several days for the techs to do the testing, but since I was driving around anyways, providing them with the data was sufficient and I only needed to come in for the actual replacement.

[@VincDuran]

The link for Torque Pro goes to an older version by Ian Hawkins (as shown in the video). Is the newer version Torque Pro by Metaverse Labs reputable? Is it a newer version with a different name?

[@transportevolved]

You want the version by Ian - we don’t know about the other one

[@ovwing]

Great topic! I bought a dongle for my 2017 500e but have yet to get any info out of it. I’ll get into the topic and your video this weekend and hopefully get some way up the learning curve 😊

[@jlujan4]

I've had an OBDII Bluetooth dongle for a while now and love it! Makes it so I can check on battery module temperatures, DC power requested, and DC power delivered in lieu of the lack of gauges or even simple messages that could help drivers know if it's the vehicle or the DCFC that's the problem

[@lyledal]

"Under the hood" is good!

[@radunegoescu1828]

In my commercial airplane we use the term EE bay, short for Electronic Equipment bay. …since we do not have a hood but a bay we’re all the computers are located, that can be accessed through a tiny door.

[@cadude145]

Well, I got a bit Torqued on this issue. I bought the Torque dongle years ago for my ICE vehicles. I still have said Ice vehicles and have not needed to use the dongle for some time. I also have a new Samsung S24 Ultra. I found the appropriate ports plugged in the dongle and did not get squat. The research I needed to pay about $60.oo more if I now wanted my device to work. I was pissed. Not really sure where the dongle is now and just had the mechanics for the cars perform the work. I'm to old now to do much. Last time I used the dongle it worked fine, now they want more money to keep it working. I was able to feel what was wrong so I knew the one car would be 700+ and the other about 350. Dongle, in my case would not have saved me what I already knew, Torqued me off though. Wonder if I will ever find the dongle?

[@gary3074]

Just because you are old doesn’t mean you can’t use your dongle…

[@williamclark6466]

Thank you for a great overview of OBD II usage!!! ❤

[@scottstormcarter9603]

I love that "first electric vehicle" 🙂

[@bgbthabun627]

thank you for this!!!!! your explanation was both clear, and concise.

[@lancpudn]

Hello Nikki, I have an MG ZS EV Gen 2 Trophy & have bought three different OBDll dongles to no avail, they connect up to the popular app/s via Bluetooth no problem, but they don't read any parameters except for the 12v battery. I'm at a loss as to what to do. Edit: just seen the section of the video about PIDs D'oh.

[@trevorberridge6079]

I have a Konnwei OBDII for my 2015 Nissan Leaf which allows me to run LeafSpyPro. The combo has been invaluable. LeafSpyPro knows more about my Leaf than it ever displays on the dashboard. It's also more accurate than the dashboard for reasons too boring to go into here. It gives me the facts on how well my battery is doing, my consumption, it even tells me how high above sea level I am. It covers wheel rotation, tire pressure, temperatures, braking, power... and on and on. It may seem very technical and maybe TMI to some, but it's a really valuable tool. It's especially helpful when doing trips that stretch the range of the Leaf. Using it I can drive anywhere with confidence because it tracks my battery percentage and estimated range right down to zero. I have occasionally pushed my Leaf below 3% with confidence whereas I couldn't without LeafSpyPro because the car itself stops showing battery at below 6% and range at below 8 miles. You're left with a blank display and (for the less experienced) a knot of range anxiety in your stomach. I'm thinking of getting something bigger than my smartphone to display it on or adapting my old tablet. It's like a major upgrade to my car and all powered by touchscreen. A diagnostic dongle can change the whole way you use your car and open up the truth about how capable and enduring even an EV with no thermal management can be.

[@economicprisoner]

I you got to the Energy meter display on the AV system: it will show you range below 8 miles. At least in my 2011 leaf. Was annoying because a power cycle cleared the range estimate on the dash when I went through a car was before a full test charge. For some reason my "11 bar" battery has only 16.2kWh useable (of 24kWh nominal).

[@mako9673]

I used an ODBII connector and software suite to mod my 2013 Audi Q5 to install European tailights with amber turn signals. This allowed me to decouple the break lights from the amber turn signals.

[@Reddylion]

All the info is displayed on screen, now a days. but still will watch this vid and see what more obd can offer in app.

[@larrykelley8352]

Thanks Nikki! I’m having no luck finding PIDs for the Lightning. Any suggestions on where to look. The git link only had the Mustang PIDs. Thanks!

[@PandaKnight52]

Under the hood is fine, vestiges happen in language all the time.

[@brandon7136]

Been using one on my Taycan for the last month.

[@Realciderreviews]

Do you think we’ll ever see open source car software? As in the software that runs the car

[@Jcewazhere]

Adam Conover has an interesting video on why time seems to be going faster. It's not just that we're getting older, but that our language is changing. We measure things in generations now instead of decades like we used to. We haven't had a term for 00-10 or 10-20 and he's saying we need one for 2020-2030.

[@KaiPonte]

Great video!! Good advice on the OBD-II dongles. I've been using these for my cars for years. I used to hack my 2000 TDI with the VW tools.

[@mako9673]

Great video. Thanks for putting this together. Very informative.

[@mikekuhl5155]

Makes complete sense. I have a 2018 EV so sounds like a good idea to invest in one.

[@PierreAlainMaire]

For Renault Zoe : CanZE is fantastic ! Thanks for the video, it would be nice to have somewhere a list of apps by brand/model

[@AlanTov]

Is there any risk in using these dongles? In terms of warranty etc?

[@robfelts8076]

My inner 10 year old snickers every time someone says dongle. 😂

[@VitalStatistics-t7t]

Great video team!

[@Dretje]

Thanks for the info. Love the t-shirt

[@chunkychuck]

I've used Car Scanner for Android before. I don't have any experience for comparison with other apps, but it seems to at least do the basics and has an Android Auto mode, though I find the customization slightly clunky.

[@MrHockey1720-G]

I had read somewhere that keeping the OBD II dongle plugged in is a security risk? That someone could open and access your vehicle is that true?

[@transportevolved]

It’s difficult to give a blanket answer, but it depends on your vehicle and the security used in the dongle. If there’s no pairing required, it’s a possibility.

[@av_oid]

Which dongle works best with a Model 3 Highland?

[@ScrappyDoodad]

I don't think that we should change some terms Under the hood and gas pedal are good There are a lot of terms that we regularly use tiare based on obsolete tech Click and button on screens for instance

[@K.L.A.S]

Had one for my old 2014 Audi etron. But I can't find one for my atto 3

[@GrayRaceCat]

How about "BtB", Between-the-Bumpers?

[@johnkellett7797]

Why not use the English term “in the bonnet”. In an ICE car it’s the big lump stuck on the front often containing engine. In an EV the ‘bonnet’ could be anywhere. In my Singer Chamois coupé many years ago the bonnet was empty apart from the spare wheel, the ‘froot’ in modern parlance. The engine was at the back between the wheels partly under the rear bench seat. The car therefore had a very short boot at the rear. ‘Bonnet’ is a much more pleasant name as a sound than the rather crass US ‘trunk’ or ‘frunk’

[@jamesheartney9546]

Torque Pro doesn't show up in Google Play Store for my Moto G Power 5G 2024. Guessing it doesn't run.

[@transportevolved]

We understand OBD Fusion is available though - and that's what we use on iOS !

[@jamesheartney9546]

@@transportevolved Thanks! Thought OBD Fusion was IOS only, but I'm wrong. Thanks for the video!

[@JeffJackowski]

Instead of under the hood, how about under the sheets? The sheets of metal! Or maybe under the steel sheets if you're worried someone might get the wrong idea.

[@Kirmo13]

will it VOIID my warranty?

[@chunkybeats79]

Leaf spy the best of all time and a must have for every potential or current leaf owner

[@tannermcnabb4836]

God damn it....I have a ford lightning, bummer to hear they do that with that data at the 8:30 mark or so of this video.

[@transportevolved]

Only a n the newest model years.

[@tannermcnabb4836]

@transportevolved double bummer then, I have a 2024 flash. Sigh

[@transportevolved]

@@tannermcnabb4836 Try it - If you're able to see it you're good! But we know from talking to folks using Comma units that 2024 and newer models can't talk on the CAN bus because it's encrypted.

[@BrunoHeggli-zp3nl]

Game over for Tesla!

[@simonpaine2347]

@@BrunoHeggli-zp3nl TeSSla

[@RonLWilson]

Under the virtual hood?

[@chunkychuck]

Love the rhyming :D

[@rp9674]

The greatest Advantage is unlocking European spec features in a BMW i3

[@rp9674]

Some automakers keeping us safe from accessing our data from the car we purchased

[@michaelaultman5190]

I think that sense EVs are basically rolling computers, a good replacement for under the hood, would be "in the box".

[@stuartirwin3779]

Under the bonnet!

[@diydrivenGA]

Doesn't work with Volvo -Polestars

[@densek510]

get ebd before buying used EV actually

[@john1701a]

Great video! This will be very useful link to share with my viewers, who watch my EV videos that display ODB-II data. A recent one features live data from ARBP... a suggestion you can add to your list of apps for EV owners. Here's what that ABRP live data looks like kzbin.info/www/bejne/imjImWaIhrKIrLc

[@Roddy451]

doritos

[@hime273]

This still won't tell you that you're Battery is about to turn into a Fireworks display.

[@G8YTZ]

I unsubscribed from you a few years back, largely becuase of your condecending tone of voice which annoyed me, if you could work on this I am sure you'd get more views. Otherwise the work you do in promoting EVs has been great.

[@cadude145]

Okay, you have some options in Canada, 😄 so while doing some surfing here on KZbin I found the song "in Canada" so I thought I would share with you so you could have a smile today. kzbin.info/www/bejne/sKa5pHuqaNd1pMUsi=t_Vb_9TnGnQ6B-FG