OBD Tracker Configuration for Electrical Vehicles – Basic Recommendations

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This guide provides recommended settings for Teltonika OBD devices used in electric vehicles (EVs).

EVs frequently deviate from standard OBD-II communication protocols, so proper configuration is essential for accurate data reporting, reliable trip/ignition detection, and overall device stability.

Following these recommendations will help optimize performance when deploying Teltonika OBD devices with EVs, and reduce common integration issues such as incorrect ignition status, missing data, or communication errors.

Firmware version

To ensure maximum compatibility and best performance with EVs, use the following firmware versions:

For FM platform OBD trackers: 04.01.00.Rev.13 and above.

See here for latest firmware versions.

Tracker Configuration

Enable & Configure OBD II

In Configurator, go to the "OBD II" menu.
Enable the "OBD II Feature" by setting it to "Non-OBD compliant".

Non-OBD compliant mode allows Teltonika OBD devices to work with vehicles that don't strictly adhere to standard OBD II protocols. This is particularly important for EVs, which often implement proprietary or modified OBD systems that differ from traditional internal combustion engine (ICE) vehicles.

Set the "VIN Source" parameter to "Manually" and enter the VIN into the field below.

Configure the Ignition Source

To ensure accurate trip detection and prevent false ignition events while the EV is idle or charging:

In Configurator, go to the "System" menu and set:
- Ignition Source: Accelerometer. Do not use "Power Voltage" as ignition source (Power Voltage should be avoided as an ignition source in EVs because electric vehicles experience voltage fluctuations during charging and battery management that cause false ignition detection, leading to unwanted device wake-ups and CAN bus communication that can trigger vehicle alarms).
- Movement Start Delay: 5-12 seconds.
- Movement Stop Delay: 30-60 seconds.

Prevent Issues with Delays

For vehicles such as VW ID.3 / ID.4 / ID.5 / ID.6 / ID.Buzz, Skoda Enyaq, Cupra Born, Audi Q4 e-tron, and BYD Seal, the vehicle may trigger an alarm when locked if the accelerometer stop delay has not yet elapsed (the OBD device continues sending requests).

Workaround:

Set the "Movement Stop Delay" to the minimum value of 5 seconds.
In "I/O" menu, for "Ignition", set the "Averaging const" to 0.

Attention! Using a 5-second Movement Stop Delay may lead to false ignition-off events, for example if the vehicle stops at a traffic light or in traffic longer than 5 seconds.

Final Steps

Send the oemreset SMS command or click OEM Reset in the Configurator to download the OEM file to the device. You can verify whether the OEM file has been downloaded in the Device Tasks section of FOTA WEB.
Observe behavior - monitor device performance after configuration update.