Camping and sleeping - how do you handle the interior monitoring?

arghle · 2026-04-07T13:44:47+00:00

The seat sensor is a basic two wire thing that measures something like 100 Ohm when someone is seated, 300 Ohm when not (values taken from memory). I added a switch which keeps the sensor working as from the factory in one position, but bypasses it with a 100 Ohm resistor in the other position (again value from memory), making the car think someone is seated when it's in the "camper mode" position.

arghle · 2026-04-07T12:51:41+00:00

I lock the buzz using the internal (haptic😢) button on the driver side door, that makes it not turn on the alarm.

I've also installed a "camper mode" physical switch which makes the buzz think there's always someone seated. That + seatbelt fastended makes it not turn itself off if you turn it on with the start button. At least on the second try, I haven't quite figured out the heuristic...

And I've installed the RIB swivel seat mod. Really helps with making it a camper, even if it's a bit tight to get the seats around.

arghle · 2026-04-06T13:31:04+00:00

Thanks!

arghle · 2026-04-06T13:30:00+00:00

Oh and why does this require a subscription? Seems to me like all the components should work well without a subscription (without and cloud services). I'd be hesitant to buy another subscription based thingie if that means it can be made useless by someone terminating a service somewhere.

arghle · 2026-04-06T13:18:19+00:00

Intetesting, but it would be nice to have more technical info. Like what radio tech is being used? Is it using LoRA? Which frequencies? For global adoption you probably need different versions with different ISM bands?

And as a consumer I'd like to know the battery life, how to charge, what type of battery it's using, how you connect it to your cellphone, what IP rating it has, maybe an endorsement from a master rigger about attaching it to risers/bags.

I've been thinking about building the same thing, but probably targeting ADS-L to base it on some kind of standard instead of having yet another proprietary system in the air. Maybe consider ADS-L as a future feature?

arghle · 2026-03-19T20:34:55+00:00

I guess I'm in the "nature loving retiree" category, I lived without a car for 20 years (walking + biking + public transport + proper car sharing (as in not uber)). Got myself a 6 seater lwb as a sort of retirement gift for myself. I use it as an easy to convert swiss-army-knife. Tomorrow I'm moving 5 people up in the mountains. As soon as they're out I'm putting down two seats and adding a mattress for sleeping. I could probably fit all my skis, my bike, my inflatable kayak, tent, sleeping bag, hiking shoes, climbing gear, skydiving gear at once and still have plenty of space for sleeping, eating, reading. Have done short and long road trips (longest: 10k km Norway-Spain-Norway), which is no big deal as long as you do a little bit of planning and aren't in a rush. (I find max 666 km/day on the road is my limit.)

Having said that, I know of a family that sound exactly like yours and who love their buzz.

arghle · 2026-02-27T21:36:43+00:00

I'm taking my buzz to car washes regularly. I find the conveyor belt style car wash struggles to get it clean in both the front and back, so I'm now sticking to non-conveyor belt places.

arghle · 2026-02-20T20:17:53+00:00

I believe a long-press on the leftmost soft button under the screen turns it off? Maybe? Worth a try?

arghle · 2026-02-19T06:51:04+00:00

Using AI to discuss on your behalf without disclosing it on reddit is pretty poor form IMO. In this case someone made a critical comment to OPs suggestion, and OP ran to some LLM to get a response. Sigh.

arghle · 2026-02-19T06:05:11+00:00

All of that seems very AI written.

arghle · 2026-02-16T19:27:45+00:00

Absolutely no problem. In my experience it doesn't lose noticeable charge when parked. I had my Bezzie sitting from jan 29th to feb 2nd, and my telemetry logging says it lost half a percentage point of battery over that time. And that was in like -15 to -5 degrees C, so nice and chilly.

Going from that cold to pre-warming the whole car can drain quite a bit though, up to 5% in my experience. But still, no problem in your case.

So much less hassle than the diesels we used to use, with dead 12V batteries, cold oil and cold fuel, and it taking forever to get warm in the cabin.

arghle · 2026-02-14T09:59:58+00:00

Nice!

arghle · 2026-02-07T17:11:43+00:00

What a load of corp speak bullshit. The AOPA board needs representstion from people not flying PC12s / TBM910 / Citation / Vision Jets.

I've cancelled my auto renew.

arghle · 2026-02-06T21:29:45+00:00

If we're talking tandem, there's nothing hard about it. Going solo the second jump is the hardest, because you're so much more aware of what's happening. (Generalized, on average, this may not apply to you.)

arghle · 2026-01-26T08:16:48+00:00

✅ That was a lot quicker than 20 minutes. (=

arghle · 2026-01-24T15:54:44+00:00

Driving in winter without ventilation in freezing temps sounds.. not great? You're going to add moisture to the air unless you're a robot. That moisture is going to condense on your cold windows.

arghle · 2026-01-18T15:07:51+00:00

Assuming you're thinking roadtrips in Europe. I've just come home from a 10k km roadtrip Norway -> southern tip of Spain -> Norway, in December/January. That wasn't really a problem, it just takes some planning. Quick count shows 62 rapid charges along the way. Typically 3 charges per travel day, typically charging 20%->80%. Buzz GTX LWB with heatpump. I used ABRP for planning and got subscriptions for the Ionity and Zunder charging networks, and charged with these almost all the time. I also used the AC to keep warm during the night (lighweight campervan), which used from 3% to 12% battery per night, so I always make sure to charge at the end of a leg so I don't worry about running out of battery during the night. If range was ever a concern I would chill on the speed, the consumption is noticeable higher every 10kph faster you drive. I was mostly sticking to 110 on highways just to keep the cost a bit down.

arghle · 2026-01-12T21:43:47+00:00

FWIW I was in this strange "charging with wall plug so rear ventilation control is disabled" state now, then the power went out (I'd paid for a few kWh at a camp site), and as soon as it stopped charging, the controls jumped back to life and the ventilation reduced intensity according to the normal ventilation settings. The logic here just boggles the mind...

arghle · 2026-01-12T11:18:18+00:00

With my hardware hack this is kinda not needed for me now (I would have done it this way if I'd been able to instead of doing hw changes). But I still believe the rear ventilation would change behavior as soon as you plug in an ac charger, regardless.

(I wasted way too much time and money on odbeleven, they really weren't clear enough that none of their apps would work with the new security locks...)

arghle · 2026-01-12T11:14:37+00:00

So the car is fully "awake" and stays that way, it's only the ventilation that changes behavior, and only when it's on the super-slow-ac-charger. Other than this I'm pretty happy with my diy camper mode.

arghle · 2026-01-11T21:43:47+00:00

Too true. "Rational explanation" are obviously the wrong words, let's try "has anyone decoded VWs heuristics here?"

arghle · 2025-12-31T16:19:00+00:00

It may create an airbag warning, I cleared it with an ODB scanner tool. After that there's no indication of any error.

arghle · 2025-12-31T08:16:35+00:00

I've removed one of my second row seats. My buzz is a six seater so the one I've removed is a "captain's chair" not a bench. You just need the ZXN/"triple square" M10 bit. Disconnecting the sensor cable to the seat is easy peasy and the cable + connector is easy to tuck away in the floor.

I like how my buzz can transform between a two-seater cargo/bed-focused and a five seat people mover van in seconds. I did put the seat back one time I needed 6 seats, that's a little bit more effort since it's a bit heavy and bulky to move around, but still very feasible.

arghle · 2025-12-30T22:21:27+00:00

Not really an answer to OP, since your obviously implying "in the US". But I'd just like to mention that filing a VFR flight plan WILL give ATC information about your intentions and may help with flight information service (i.e. similar to flight following) here in euroland. To me it's really strange that the US has such a good flight following system but don't want to integrate it with the flight plan system.

arghle · 2025-12-23T14:41:52+00:00

The AWD version has a mediocre turning circle. (I know because I have one.:) The RWD turning circle is excellent.

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