Car Scanner App Template (For Real-Time Charging, Battery and Range Telemetry)

[srspring551]

Anyone have updates on this, or use a different ("better") scanner or scanner app?

Sponsored

 

[Jim Lewis]

Dumb newbie question. I have used a BAFX OBDII scanner with Torque Pro for my 2007 Honda Accord (classic Bluetooth, IIRC). I always took it out when I was done using it because I had problems with parasitic battery drain (not driving the Honda enough). I thought the scanner left plugged in 24 x 7 might add a bit to my battery drain (I read on the Internet that power is always supplied to the OBDII port even when the vehicle is off). I imagine the drain of a BLE (4.0+) device is so negligible that it doesn't matter if the device is always plugged in. Or are any of the OBDII devices smart enough to put themselves to sleep if the vehicle isn't on and they aren't connected to a scanner app? TIA for educating me!

Edit_Update: To answer my above questions, my Veepeak BLE+ OBDII device arrived today (same as OP got), and in a big red label IMPORTANT INFORMATION on the box, it says not to use the device while driving (seems to imply besides driver distraction, the device might interfere with the safe operation of the vehicle). Also, the manual and the IMPORTANT INFORMATION warning say not to leave the device plugged in when not in use. Have no recollection of such advice for my Android BAFX scanner, but it's been years since I've seen the instruction manual for that! . The carrying case with space for the user instructions is a very nice feature of the Veepeak device.

 

[Jim Lewis]

I finally tried the OP's template with a Veepeak BLE+ OBDII device purchased on Amazon. I upgraded to the Car Scanner Pro version for iOS, as you're only allowed three template pages in the free app version. A one-time payment is only $6.99, which is nothing compared to all the other expenses of owning a Lightning. The OP's template worked great on my 2023 Lariat ER, even though his template is for a 2022 vehicle. I'm an iPhone convert from Android, so it took me a while to figure out how to load up the template. I unzipped it on a Windows 11 computer in my MS OneDrive cloud. When I viewed it in the OneDrive cloud on my iPhone and told the OneDrive app to make the file "offline," it loaded it into my iCloud drive into the Downloads folder there (nowhere to be found on the phone itself!). Then, in the app itself (sorry if the OP already explained this), you load the OP's template by "restoring" his .CBZ file under Settings, Backup (I backed up the default app settings first, as the OP recommended). I've only driven my 3-month-old truck 1,200 miles, but the scanner reports 100% HVB health. I found sensor settings for AUX 12V Battery State of Charge and AUX 12V Battery Voltage in Car Scanner and added them to a new template page to go with the three dashboard pages provided by the OP.

My main interest in scanning is to follow my HVB state of health and check my LVB SOC when hoping to get OTA updates. Thanks to the OP for a great recommendation that makes those things easy to do.

I've been keeping the truck at 50% charge in a garage that ranges from 84 to 90 deg F when it's 105, 106 degrees out during the day. I will be a very happy camper if I can go a few summers like that and still be not too far away from 100% battery health (and advertised range). I don't mind the loss of battery capacity from extensive driving as much as I would if summer heat over the years takes a big hit on my truck's battery.

 

[Galactus55]

This is I what can see with Torque connected to ODBII port via bluetooth there are many pages lots of information. This is the Charging page shows battery charge in %, coolant Kw used, amps into battery, and Kw power into battery. Plus motor temps power output from motors in Foot Pounds. It shows in real time update. ( I took this picture while charging on a 50 kw DC charger).

 

[jerock]

I've tried over and over to load up this dashboard template & have had no luck. I've went to settings - backup - Import from file, this did nothing. I've also tried Settings - dashboard - restore dashboard & this did nothing. What am I doing wrong.

 

[Jim Lewis]

I've tried over and over to load up this dashboard template & have had no luck. I've went to settings - backup - Import from file, this did nothing. I've also tried Settings - dashboard - restore dashboard & this did nothing. What am I doing wrong.

I did Settings, Backup, Restore from Backup (after backing up the default Car Scanner ELM OBD2 settings). Is the template that you're trying to load the unzipped .CBZ file provided by the OP, i.e., 2022-08-07 20-11-47.cbz ? On my iPhone that file is 113 kb in size. I unzipped on a Windows computer using the right-click context menu command Extract All. Before loading the .CBZ file downloaded to my iPhone by restoring from backup, I plugged in my VeePeak BLE+ OBDII scanner, turned on my truck, and made sure the Car Scanner app was connected with the OBDII scanner before I tried restoring from backup. Depending on what scanner and what scanner app you're using and whether your phone is Android or iOS, your setup may be different. Your scanner and your smartphone with your scanning app should work with just the default sensor settings. The OP's template is just providing his specific layout for his choice of sensors. Have you tried creating a one-page template of your own with your scanner and scanner app on your phone? It's a stupid thing to ask (sorry!), but are you sure you're not in DEMO mode if you're using the Car Scanner app?

 

[jerock]

I've done exactly what you stated. I've done this numerous times without any luck. My setup is exactly like yours, I"ve transferred the extracted file to the phone a couple of times to make sure nothing is wrong there. I've created numerous pages in car scanner so I'm well aware how that works. I've started to recreate some of the pages in the OP's dashboard & basically giving up on importing a dashboard. Just find frustrating its not working as it should.
I find that car scanner is poorly documented.

 

[wighty]

Veepeak BLE+ OBDII device

Does anyone have any experience/recommendations for other brands of BLE+ devices? I bought the veepeak last year, did not really use it much at all in the past like 8 months, tried to use it for a trip last week and struggled to get it to connect/even see the device so I think it is now broken.

 

[bmwhitetx]

Does anyone have any experience/recommendations for other brands of BLE+ devices? I bought the veepeak last year, did not really use it much at all in the past like 8 months, tried to use it for a trip last week and struggled to get it to connect/even see the device so I think it is now broken.

I have that and works well. Here are the 2 recommendations from the FORScan folks:
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0BZTXV6MZ
https://www.amazon.com/OBDLink-Blue...tic-Performance/dp/B07JFRFJG6?ref_=ast_sto_dp

 

[rtk11226]

I recently purchased the Vgate vLinker FS Bluetooth OBD2 Diagnostic Scan Tool and tried it with both Forscan and Car Scanner. I used the @Capstone template and it worked perfectly the first time. What a huge help for a newbie like myself. Thanks @Capstone! I've been leaving it plugged in just to see if it causes any noticeable drain on the 12V battery. I don't drive much and leave the trickle charger plugged in most of the time and don't see any indication that it's constantly charging (always a green indicator light) and that the scan tool is causing any appreciable drain on the battery.

 

[Box Cat]

Just got an OBDLink MX+ coupled with Car Scanner Pro.

The Lightning works right out of the box with several standard dashboard pages I thought I would share here.

The HVB SoC numbers showed in the first page seem reasonable, just after charge completed at 80%.

The 95 kWh energy could refer to either a usable or stored figure possibly derived by the nominal capacity (131 or 143) weighted by a temperature factor (battery temp was 59F and typical nominal temperature is 20C/68F).

Very impressed with both OBDLink and Car Scanner, quite fast and reliable.

Of interest on the third page note the 12V battery reset days field, as 6 days ago I had the lightning serviced for CSP 23B70 with the LVB battery monitor sensor replaced and the BMS reset.

Also, in the same page the LVB 47 mA average quiescent current draw.

The truck was plugged to the charging station, and with accessory turned on the LVB was being charged in bulk mode at 14.8V.

The charge station was providing around 490W which would fit the power provided to the LVB of DC-DC LV of 28A * 14.8V (plus some power loss along the way), through the HVB with DC-DC HV of 1.2A * 377V, more or less ...

 

[Shawnson]

Not sure if anyone is a bit frustrated by lack of available details especially charging but here is a backup of a template that I made up to give me some real-time telemetry. A few of my local charging stations were acting up and now I can see a bit more in the background.

Using a OBD (BLE) scanner and Car Scanner in case members are scratching there head. Amazing App

Added a Zip file with the backup file that can be imported. Not sure if it will delete what you have so perhaps backup first.

Love this truck...

Sorry, how did you figure out which motor is the front and which is the rear? Looking at the data the primary seems to be the front?

 

[Jasper7821]

Just got an OBDLink MX+ coupled with Car Scanner Pro.

The Lightning works right out of the box with several standard dashboard pages I thought I would share here.

The HVB SoC numbers showed in the first page seem reasonable, just after charge completed at 80%.

The 95 kWh energy could refer to either a usable or stored figure possibly derived by the nominal capacity (131 or 143) weighted by a temperature factor (battery temp was 59F and typical nominal temperature is 20C/68F).

Very impressed with both OBDLink and Car Scanner, quite fast and reliable.

Of interest on the third page note the 12V battery reset days field, as 6 days ago I had the lightning serviced for CSP 23B70 with the LVB battery monitor sensor replaced and the BMS reset.

Also, in the same page the LVB 47 mA average quiescent current draw.

The truck was plugged to the charging station, and with accessory turned on the LVB was being charged in bulk mode at 14.8V.

The charge station was providing around 490W which would fit the power provided to the LVB of DC-DC LV of 28A * 14.8V (plus some power loss along the way), through the HVB with DC-DC HV of 1.2A * 377V, more or less ...

I'm a new Lightning Lariat owner, drove the new truck home 800 miles over the weekend and learing about it.
One thing I loved about my Tesla is the TeslaFi app and could monitor all the live battery data.
Searched for something like it for the truck and found this thread.

I still have my OBDLink MX+ from my Tesla, I'll get the Car Scanner Pro app and looking forward to using it to monitor battery health.
My main item I like to look at is instant watts per mile.

I also have the A2Z Tesla adapter and used it on the way home (along with some EA stations) and it worked great.

 

[Box Cat]

Congrats!
I had the truck for 5 months now and loving it!
(Apart from some initial frustration in getting service for required CSPs …)

 

[Jasper7821]

Congrats!
I had the truck for 5 months now and loving it!
(Apart from some initial frustration in getting service for required CSPs …)

Thank you, ya I heard updates are a pain. My friend has a Lightning and he said ford had his truck for over a week.
I asked the dealer about updates and he said they’re are none. But from someone running the VIN, there’s a bunch

Sponsored