SAIC MQTT Gateway

A service that queries the data from an MG iSMART account and publishes the data over MQTT.

MG iSMART is the connectivity system in your MG car (MG5, MG4, ZS...).

The implementation is based on the findings from the SAIC-iSmart-API Documentation project.

Prerequisites

  • You have an iSMART account (can be created in the iSMART app)
  • Your car needs to be registered to your account

Configuration

Configuration parameters can be provided as command line parameters or environment variables (this is what you typically do when you run the service from a docker container).

CMD param ENV variable Description
-u or --saic-user SAIC_USER SAIC user name - required
-p or --saic-password SAIC_PASSWORD SAIC password - required
-m or --mqtt-uri MQTT_URI URI to the MQTT Server. TCP: tcp://mqtt.eclipseprojects.io:1883, WebSocket: ws://mqtt.eclipseprojects.io:9001 or TLS: tls://mqtt.eclipseprojects.io:8883 - required
--mqtt-server-cert MQTT_SERVER_CERT Path to the server certificate authority file in PEM format is required for TLS
--mqtt-user MQTT_USER MQTT user name
--mqtt-password MQTT_PASSWORD MQTT password
--mqtt-client-id MQTT_CLIENT_ID MQTT Client Identifier. Defaults to saic-python-mqtt-gateway.
--mqtt-topic-prefix MQTT_TOPIC Provide a custom MQTT prefix to replace the default: saic
--saic-uri SAIC_URI SAIC URI. Default is the European Production endpoint: https://tap-eu.soimt.com
--abrp-api-key ABRP_API_KEY API key for the A Better Route Planner telemetry API. Default is the open source telemetry API key 8cfc314b-03cd-4efe-ab7d-4431cd8f2e2d.
--abrp-user-token ABRP_USER_TOKEN Mapping of VIN to ABRP User Token. Multiple mappings can be provided separated by ',' Example: LSJXXXX=12345-abcdef,LSJYYYY=67890-ghijkl
--battery-capacity-mapping BATTERY_CAPACITY_MAPPING Mapping of VIN to full battery capacity. Multiple mappings can be provided separated by ',' Example: LSJXXXX=54.0,LSJYYYY=64.0
--openwb-lp-map OPENWB_LP_MAP Mapping of VIN to openWB charging point. Multiple mappings can be provided separated by ',' Example: 1=LSJXXXX,2=LSJYYYY - deprecated
--charging-stations-json CHARGING_STATIONS_JSON Custom charging stations configuration file name
--saic-relogin-delay SAIC_RELOGIN_DELAY The gateway detects logins from other devices (e.g. the iSMART app). It then pauses it's activity for 900 seconds (default value). The delay can be configured with this parameter.
--ha-discovery HA_DISCOVERY_ENABLED Home Assistant auto-discovery is enabled (True) by default. It can be disabled (False) with this parameter.
--ha-discovery-prefix HA_DISCOVERY_PREFIX The default MQTT prefix for Home Assistant auto-discovery is 'homeassistant'. Another prefix can be configured with this parameter
LOG_LEVEL Log level: INFO (default), use DEBUG for detailed output, use CRITICAL for no output, more info
MQTT_LOG_LEVEL Log level of the MQTT Client: INFO (default), use DEBUG for detailed output, use CRITICAL for no output, more info

Charging Station Configuration

If your charging station also provides information over MQTT or if you somehow manage to publish information from your charging station, the MQTT gateway can benefit from it. In addition, the MQTT gateway can provide the SoC to your charging station.

An openWB charging station is capable of providing information over MQTT for instance. You just need to provide the configuration in the file charging-stations.json. A sample configuration for two cars connected to an openWB charging station would be the following.

Check-out the sample file

The key-value pairs in the JSON express the following:

JSON key Description
chargeStateTopic topic indicating the charge state - required
chargingValue payload that indicates the charging - required
socTopic topic where the gateway publishes the SoC for the charging station - required
chargerConnectedTopic topic indicating that the vehicle is connected to the charging station - optional
chargerConnectedValue payload that indicates that the charger is connected - optional
vin vehicle identification number to map the charging station information to a vehicle - required

Running the service

From Command-line

To run the service from the command line you need to have Python version 3.10 or later. Launch the MQTT gateway with the mandatory parameters.

$ python ./mqtt_gateway.py -m tcp://my-broker-host:1883 -u <saic-user> -p <saic-pwd>

In a docker container

Build the image yourself with the Dockerfile or download the image from docker hub.

Building the docker image

$ docker build -t saic-mqtt-gateway .

There is a docker compose file that shows how to set up the service.

A Better Route Planner (ABRP) integration

Telemetry data from your car can be provided to ABRP. Be aware that this is not done by default. The data will be sent only if you provide the mapping of your vehicle identification number (VIN) to an ABRP user token.

Commands over MQTT

The MQTT Gateway subscribes to MQTT topics where it is listening for commands. Every topic in the table below starts with the default vehicle prefix: saic/<saic_user>/vehicles/<vehicle_id>

Topic Value range Description
/drivetrain/hvBatteryActive/set true/false Overwrite high voltage battery state (Don't touch this unless you know what you are doing!)
/drivetrain/charging/set true/false Start (true) or stop (false) charging. Stopping works fine, starting is not so reliable yet
/climate/remoteTemperature/set temperature Set A/C temperature
/climate/remoteClimateState/set on/off/front/blowingOnly Turn A/C on or off, activate A/C blowing (front) or blowing only (blowingOnly)
/doors/boot/set true/false Lock or unlock boot
/doors/locked/set true/false Lock or unlock your car. This is not always working. It might take some time until it takes effect. Don't trust this feature. Use your car key!
/climate/rearWindowDefrosterHeating/set on/off Turn rear window defroster heating on or off. This is not always working. It might take some time until it takes effect.
/climate/frontWindowDefrosterHeating/set on/off Turn front window defroster heating on or off
/drivetrain/socTarget/set [40,50,60,70,80,90,100] Target SoC in percent. Only values from the defined value range are valid.
/refresh/mode/set periodic/off/force The gateway queries the vehicle and charge status periodically after a vehicle start event has happened (default value: periodic. The periodic refresh can be switched off (value: off). A refresh can also be forced (value: force).
/refresh/period/active/set refresh interval (sec) In case a vehicle start event has occurred, the gateway queries the status every 30 seconds (default value). The refresh interval can be modified with this topic.
/refresh/period/inActive/set refresh interval (sec) Vehicle and charge status are queried once per day (default value: 86400) independently from any event. Changing this to a lower value might affect the 12V battery of your vehicle. Be very careful!
/refresh/period/afterShutdown/set refresh interval (sec) After the vehicle has been shutdown, the gateway queries the status every 120 seconds (default value). The refresh interval can be modified with this topic.
/refresh/period/inActiveGrace/set grace period (sec) After the vehicle has been shutdown, the gateway continues to query the state for 600 seconds (default value). The duration of this extended query period can be modified with this topic.

Home Assistant auto-discovery

The gateway supports Home Assistant MQTT discovery. It publishes configuration information so that the vehicle appears as a MQTT device. This will save you a lot of configuration effort since all the entities provided by the vehicle will automatically show-up in Home Assistant.