So, I guess this means my Audi Q4 which is built on the same VW platform as the ID.4 is never going to be discovered either, Since I already have extra sensors in place for the Air Handler on my A/C which was never discovered (after 2+ years) I don’t have that option.
I wouldn’t say “never” - My take from my user experience is that Sense went quietly back to the drawing board several times with their Model S and Model Y detection before they got it to the reasonable state it is in today. I would guess that every time they do that for another make/model, they learn how to build a more generalizable framework for EVs. But I wouldn’t say never.
Two other thoughts to perhaps help in the meantime.
- Do you need both your Flex Sensor CTs for your AC air handler ? A single one can be used on 240V balanced (or even nearly balanced loads). There are also ways to run both black and red circuit wires on a 240V circuit through a single CT to have them add up. So you might have a CT available.
- I don’t know about whether there is an integration for Audi charging for Home Assistant, but for a while, I was using the Tesla Integration to roll up power data from Sense and the chargers inside my Teslas. If I was intrepid, I could have also sent the Tesla charger power usage data off to the Sense monitor via SenseLink.
Unfortunately, I’ve got enough history with them that I’m going to stick with ‘never’, The fact that their response about EV charging is more than 3 years old and they do not appear interested in evolving that, tells me everything I need to know.
I’ll just have to ignore that spike in load and use the monitoring capability that came with the ChargePoint I bought to measure the usage of the car.
Each time I step on another variant of poor discovery I pull back further and further on my reliance on this platform as an actually useful tool. The only thing that records reliably in my home is stuff plugged into smart outlets, I’ve stopped counting on most everything else over time as most things were never discovered and recently I’m seeing more and more ‘rogue’ reports of devices operating that I know are not since I’m standing right in front of them.
If the platform is evolving, it’s not in a way that supports the original targeted customer base.
2 Likes
Nice summary! Totally agree
1 Like
I just got an Ioniq 5 and I’ve accepted that it will be a while, if ever, before it’s detected. I’ll probably use the DCM option, but it’s on a subpanel. I doubt that I’ll be able to fish it through the conduit, and there’s already some detected devices on that panel as well as a Kasa. Can I assume that it would confuse those devices and double the detected draw?
Related for my situation, is there ever going to be a separate secondary device that can just be add-on flex clamps?
Two quick answers:
- Just like smartplug “devices”, you can tell Sense which native detections are part of circuit instrumented for Direct Circuit Monitoring, to avoid double counting.
- Sense hasn’t offered any roadmap for additional monitoring. But it is possible to use a second Sense monitor for additional circuit channels, though you need something like Home Assistant watching over both monitors to combine the data. Here’s what that looks like.
Just updating…4 years later, still doesn’t detect my Model X and Model S…honestly only reason I got it for, was to track my charging cost.
Hi, @xiguo
I am sorry to hear this. I can provide a few suggestions on how to look to see if we can improve this situation. EV detection is far from perfect, but if you want some help, send me a private message (PM).
Obviously, feel free to discuss this here as well.
Thanks so much
1 Like
Well, another year has passed and not unexpectedly, Sense still can’t see my Audi Q4 on a dedicated 240 volt 50 amp circuit. It also never found the 2 new refrigerators swapped into the house in the last 2 years. And please dear god, nobody respond with the patronizing ‘you don’t understand’ , the platform seems to have hit a wall about 3 years ago with no measurable advancement since. .
Hi @don1
I know you have seen this before, so I’m not going to pretend to tell you anything you don’t already know. But I just want to put this out here for information purposes and just to spread awareness.
At this time, Sense can only detect the following EVs
- Tesla Model S, X, and 3
- BMW i3
- Chevy Bolt & Volt
- Nissan Leaf
- Chrysler Pacifica
Right now, Sense does not detect the following types:
-Fords
-Audis
-120V charged EVs.
And any other EVs not listed in the section above that explicitly claim to detect.
If you wish to detect any other EV you must use dedicated circuit monitoring: https://help.sense.com/hc/en-us/articles/360054078474-How-to-use-Sense-with-Dedicated-Circuit-Monitoring.
If you want me to look into your issue with your 2 refrigerators, send me a private message and I can work to help you.
Device detection can be tricky, and there isn’t always a guarantee of what Sense will detect, but I’m happy to give you some insight into what to do.
You can also use an energy-monitoring smartplug to detect most fridges. Just make sure to disable the remote switch feature on these plugs and use them as energy monitors.
Certainly not a request to buy accessories. I just thought I would provide possibly the fastest and easiest way to resolve this issue.
I’m aware that much of this has been discussed already, so I’m not bringing too much here, but it’s what I got. Sorry for that. We are working on improving device detection and have released some this year. We are fully aware of the concern and desire for EV detection.
Thanks!
1 Like
Hi @JamesDrewAtSense, thanks for the clear and up-to-date list of detectable EVs. I thought this blog from a while back highlighted why each EV model requires special custom detection.
1 Like
Hi @kevin1, Thanks for posting this. I re-read it - as it’s a little old now - to make sure everything seems to check out, and I would say it does for folks with questions about EV’s its pretty helpful.
Without using DCM, there is a lot we have to depend on from EV manufacturers, for example, with Tesla, not to change how they charge too dramatically with a SW update. If their charging model changes, then we have to update ours.
1 Like
You’ve pretty much confirmed what I stated above that the capabilities of Sense hit a wall a few years ago and there are at best nominal improvements in the solution since then. I fully understand I’m not paying for new features that didn’t exist when I bought the device all those years ago, but there also isn’t an option to pay for new capabilities so as to support funding of them. It definitely seems like we’ve hit the limits of the solution architecture and this is all it will be.
Since I already have DCM in place for the air handler on my heat pump that was never discovered I am now forced to make a choice between my A/C and the EV charger so I guess I’ll just have to accept that EV charging will never be anything more than a blob when it’s running and I’ll have to rely on other means for that ongoing.
As for the refrigerators, I got tired of the answer always being to spend more money to work around the limitations of Sense. At this point it never found 2 new Samsung refrigerators, air handler for A/C, EV Charger, most every light fixture in the house which are all LED bulbs now and since there has never been the ability to manage 2 monitors on one account I have never seen my pool pump or the outdoor unit on the heat pump (two very large energy users).
The bottom line is that over time, Sense is seeing an increasingly smaller percentage of the devices in my home and as a result is providing less and less value.
Hi Don,
Thanks for your feedback. I’m passing this on to the product team. I certainly understand your concern about not being able to detect as many devices in your home as you would like.
Ideally, I would not suggest a smartplug or something else as a workaround for the solution. We are making strides in improving detection and have done some in the last year, so while some feature updates may not be obvious, we are still working on them.
If you also would like, I advise providing feedback in the link below. It goes directly to the product team that handles feedback/feature requests, and they like to hear direct user stories.
Feedback here: https://help.sense.com/hc/en-us/requests/new?ticket_form_id=14481007173779
Thanks again!
1 Like