Manual from ZTE LTE Z6200CA modem (device that takes sim card and creates wifi) states that "Note: The ZTE OBD-II device is not compatible with electric (EV) and plug-in hybrid vehicles." Why? All it needs is the power source, no?
Your question made me curious. I didn't find many clues in the manual but I did find Telus (a Canadian provider) sells this unit and had some more detail: "TELUS Drive+ app The app will collect information from the device and track things like your car’s location and your driving habits, plus provide diagnostic alerts so you can make sure your car stays in good shape" -- See https://www.telus.com/en/support/article/telus-drive-explained It's possible what they mean to say that the 'driving habit' and diagnostic bits only work on gas-powered vehicles? Maybe the hotspot still works? -Dan
I don't know anything about this device but I will offer a thought... The FAQ that Dan linked states that the device "only reads information from your car:" From my experience with the OBD port on the Clarity, there is no activity on that CAN bus unless you do a query. Maybe this device expects to read vehicle CAN data just by passively listening instead of writing messages to perform queries? It seems there would be a reasonable chance that the hotspot would work even without any of the data collection. It would certainly be worth trying.
Hi - It 'probably' means the diagnostic part will not work but will 'rpobably' work just fine providing a data hotspot - but no advantage over a smartphone - here is Bell Canada's info on the unit... including per normal Bell practices, a link to check your car - which of course doesn't work; https://www.bell.ca/Styles/pdf/Bell_QSG_ENG_web.pdf "check my car" takes you to http://bell.ca/checkmycar which doesn't have car info Good luck HNY
Ok, I did try it. It works for a short time, then goes down, then comes back again and works for a while, rinse and repeat. Unusable. If I had spare obd connector - I'd plug it in with multimeter to see if car cuts the power to OBD occasionally (why would she do it?). But for now - will use normal travel router and mount it under the "wings".
If not offensive to you, it may be possible to remove the SIM card and use it in a MiFi, assuming you've got a good price/rate for your connected-car plan and your cellular carrier doesn't care. For a time, ATT sold a Mobley device (OBDII) and that unit has a removable SIM. The connected car plan at $20/mo + taxes and fees was considered a good deal for "unlimited data." "Unlimited" in that case meant ~20Gb at regular speeds. Anyway, during the ATT Mobley time-period, folks were able to move the SIM from Mobley to a compatible MiFi device. Oh and re-reading your last note, maybe this is what you mean by travel router.
Yes, I have just a regular sim on a regular data plan, not “connected car plan” that I can move between devices. I tried iPad as a hotspot (works well, but too bulky), this old car thingy zte z6200 (loved that it is out of the way, but unstable), and now on zte mf970 - most stable solution so far. Car itself has a SIM card (most likely esim) - i wish we could replace it with our own and have integrated hotspot built in.
