How are you using the plugin?

[shill]

I'd love to hear how you're using this plugin - it might give me some ideas for how to build in more functionality in the future!

[shill]

I got my car in November, so my primary reason for creating the plugin was to turn on the climate system before I leave for work in the morning when it was cold outside. I turn it on 5 minutes before my typical departure time (if it's a weekday, I'm "Home", the car is "Home", and my virtual "Work Day" device is turned on), and if it's been running for 15 minutes and I haven't left the house yet, it turns off automatically to prevent too much unnecessary battery drain.

That quickly grew to include similar logic around leaving work once it got warm out!



I also try to forcibly wake the car before expected travel times so it's more likely to be ready, respond to bluetooth presence, etc.:



And just last night I was at my daughter's last band concert and was recording all the songs, which drained my battery to the point it ultimately died before it was time to leave. So I used her phone to login to HomeSeer, unlocked the car, opened the trunk for her, and used "Remote Start" to let me drive home even with a dead phone

[richardfj]

The most useful functionality I have set up is for HS to warn me if I need to plug the car in to be charged. I set up an event to change a virtual device if the car is located at home, with the charging port closed and with a range of less than 120 miles. When the virtual device indicates an active “needs charging” status, I blink the top 2 LEDs on all my wall switches until the car is plugged in.

[shill]

The most useful functionality I have set up is for HS to warn me if I need to plug the car in to be charged. I set up an event to change a virtual device if the car is located at home, with the charging port closed and with a range of less than 120 miles. When the virtual device indicates an active “needs charging” status, I blink the top 2 LEDs on all my wall switches until the car is plugged in.

I love the idea of blinking an LED! Need to add that to my logic.

[Dave_D]

Hi Shill Any thoughts on using the tesla plugin for supporting powerwalls?

[shill]

Hi Shill Any thoughts on using the tesla plugin for supporting powerwalls?

Without one of my own, I couldn't develop, test or support it effectively enough. I think I may have seen where someone already had something they were working on for that, so you might be able to track that down here on the forums.

[JohnnyBman]

The most useful functionality I have set up is for HS to warn me if I need to plug the car in to be charged. I set up an event to change a virtual device if the car is located at home, with the charging port closed and with a range of less than 120 miles. When the virtual device indicates an active “needs charging” status, I blink the top 2 LEDs on all my wall switches until the car is plugged in.

Great idea. Just got my Model 3 a month ago. I don't have any wall switches yet, so I just have it send me a text at 9:00 PM if the conditions are met (less than 40%, location=home, charge port=closed).

[sputnik]

Once I get the plugin working, I'm planning to automate the climate as well except it will initiate automatically only when HS senses that there is motion/occupancy in the morning at a certain area of the house. Since my schedule varies, the climate will start only when necessary.

The other thing is smarter auto garage door opening and closing. Currently, I have a somewhat complicated but reliable setup in place that uses phone geofencing, motion sensors, and camera based AI for when the car returns home (which is much smarter than using Homelink), but I'm hoping to use this plugin to also automate the garage door opening when the car is inside, and then closing the door once the car is out. Homelink is very limited so it's not really an option in my case. Not sure if it'll work, but roughly, I'm thinking of waking the car up when there is motion in the garage. When the driver side door is opened then that will open the garage door (generally it's rare for me to open the door if I'm not going to drive). Maybe even use the shift state, though I'm guessing probably not due to the update lag. I wish Tesla's api had seat sensing, but I may be able to get it to work without it.

[JohnnyBman]

I have been trying to devise a scheme that will work my garage door as well but so far have been striking out. I don't have Homelink installed. I have a MyQ for remote control of the door. The polling lag is a factor. Might have to just rely on my cell phone conditions and less on the Tesla's.

Once I get the plugin working, I'm planning to automate the climate as well except it will initiate automatically only when HS senses that there is motion/occupancy in the morning at a certain area of the house. Since my schedule varies, the climate will start only when necessary.

The other thing is smarter auto garage door opening and closing. Currently, I have a somewhat complicated but reliable setup in place that uses phone geofencing, motion sensors, and camera based AI for when the car returns home (which is much smarter than using Homelink), but I'm hoping to use this plugin to also automate the garage door opening when the car is inside, and then closing the door once the car is out. Homelink is very limited so it's not really an option in my case. Not sure if it'll work, but roughly, I'm thinking of waking the car up when there is motion in the garage. When the driver side door is opened then that will open the garage door (generally it's rare for me to open the door if I'm not going to drive). Maybe even use the shift state, though I'm guessing probably not due to the update lag. I wish Tesla's api had seat sensing, but I may be able to get it to work without it.

[ViperJD]

I use Alexa for turning on my Climate control, but I use this plugin and Homeseer to see my car status. I set the LEDs on my HS200 switches. I set one from Green (over 200 miles range), changing shades all the way to blicking Red for below 50 miles. I also have leads for charging status and climate on/off status. Love it.

[misio]

I live in Montreal, it's cold and snowy in winter. I use this plug-in to schedule preheating Tesla at certain times throughout the week. For example, before leaving home for work, and just before leaving work when I go back home.

[dmiller]

Like previous posters I do get a text if not plugged at 8pm and less that 150 mile range.

But I have a detached garage. I would rather to be reminded when I'm in the garage, not inside the house. So I think I will turn on a blue light in the garage when I arrive home with less than 150 mile range.

-Like a lot of people I have an irregular schedule but I like preconditioning the car, especially in very cold weather. I know my schedule in the morning. I always make coffee. I think I will use turning on the coffee pot to prompt me to set the days charging and climate schedule. I'm thinking about how I want to do that interface. I haven't used HS Touch, but sliding bars in a GUI seems ideal. Although I have bought most of the third party Tesla phone apps that expose most of the Tesla API. So perhaps I don't need to build a custom interface.

My desire to change charge time and schedule obviously increases with uncomfortable weather. Perhaps I will only do the coffee prompting on particularly hot or cold days.

-Another easy automation is car door locking. I've notice some people are conflicted about car door locking at home. They want quick access to throw an item in the car during the day, but perhaps don't like it unlocked at night. Easy to lock at 10pm and unlock at 6pm.

-Another automation is to wake the car when the garage door starts to rise. I have a detached garage and open the main door from the house as I exit. I'm slightly annoyed that the car isn't more awake when I reach the drivers door. Easy to have my garage door sensor trigger a wakeup. I'll have to experiment and see if I'm less annoyed with an earlier wakeup.

-The API captures charging error "Check Power Source". That condition would be good to flag.

- People who park outside could flag windows down and rain (or rain forecast). This might allow worry free windows in vent position. Vented windows could also be automatically closed at dusk or other conditions.

- My car is named Skippy. The voice command "Hey Skippy" triggering a honk could be used to convince young children that the car is alive and listening.

- Sentry mode could be turned on if the home is in away state but the car is home. A normally unlocked car in the garage could be locked and windows up using the same trigger.

- The car horn could be used as part of an alarm system response. This one would need a timer if looping.

- With the house in vacation mode and the car at home trigger a text if location changes from home.

- Monitor the charge state and report exceptions when traveling by airplane (car is at home or airport).

[shill]

Some great ideas there - will be adding some to my own setup!

[alphatech]

I purchased the car two ears ago and I did not get a chance to try it during the winter months during the pandemic. I have two scripts, one that turns the heat on based to the temperature outside and the time and the other that will turn it off if is after my normal departure but still in park. I would like your suggestion on what you normally use as script and if not if you use the tesla climate app. Also, if the climate turns on, would it turn off automatically if activated via the testa app after reaching the temperature desiderate or will keep have the climate on all day? How long should I have the temperature on based to the temperature outside with the intend of minimizing the battery consumption. Looking forward your experience here.

Thanks

[shill]

Once you start driving the car, the climate resets to your profile setting and turns off automatically when you park and get out. If you turn it on remotely and never actually drive the car, the app will warn you after a while with a push notification "climate has been on an extended period". For all my "turn on the climate" events I have a safety net event that checks to see if I actually drove the car within X minutes of turning it on, and if not, turns if back off.