OBDZero reads, displays and stores data from the iMiev, CZero and iOn electric cars. The data such as speed and electricity use are available on the car’s CAN computer network via a Bluetooth dongle attached to the car’s OBD port. OBDZero presents this data in 12 different screens. A 13th screens logs messages between the app, the OBD dongle and the car. Six screens are intended for use while driving. These are:
• Wh shows the battery capacity in kWh and the remaining kWh
• Ah shows the battery capacity in Ah and the remaining Ah
• Volts shows the battery volts and the voltages of the highest and lowest
cells
• oC shows the average cell temperature and the temperatures of the
warmest and coldest cells
• WATTS shows the car’s average watts, speed and watt-hours per km.
• DRIVE updates the distance to the next charging station, the difference
between the remaining (aka rest) range and the distance to the station,
and suggests a speed to the station.

OBDZero can also measure the 100% capacity of the cars battery.

The app saves data in semicolon separated text files, either in the phone’s internal RAM or on an SD Card depending on how the phone is set up.

OBDZero was developed on an older phone running Android 4.3 with an INTEY OBDII an inexpensive OBD Bluetooth dongle.

The Vgate Company sent a number of their OBD dongles for testing and the results are positive. Pirate copies of Vgate dongles are sold on the Internet. Tests of a copy and a true Vgate Scan showed that the true Scan is more stable and faster than the copy. When buying a dongle that purports to be manufactured by Vgate, check that the Vgate is the supplier.

The app does not exchange data with the Internet and it does not use GPS.

There is a user manual available for download at OBDzero.dk or by writing to [email protected]

I take no responsibility for any consequences of OBDZero’s use.

Acknowledgements and references:
Much of the code for OBDZero comes from Blueterm by pymasde.es.
The commands to the Bluetooth dongle were found in ELM327DSH.pdf from www.elmelectronics.com
The interpretations of the CAN PIDs for speed, voltage and current etc. were found on http://myimiev.com/forum/ posted by jjlink, garygid, priusfan, plaes, dax, cristi, silasat and kiev and on on https://www.myoutlanderphev.com/forum posted by anko.

Special thanks to Anders Fanøe and Allan Korup for their advice on electric car and CAN technology.