Fernando Corrado’s story was only possible thanks to Tesla Sentry Mode. Chris Fenton’s still a mystery, but think about it: if you could check Sentry Mode videos immediately after getting a push, wouldn’t it be convenient? Tesla will perhaps offer that possibility. While it doesn’t, you can have a Roadie instead of a USB stick connected to your EV.

Gallery: Roadie Is A Device That Lets You Watch Tesla-Made Videos Immediately

You must be asking what Roadie is, right? The video above, made by the Tesla Raj YouTube channel, tells us more about this fantastic device. It is basically a Raspberry Pi Zero programmed by Jake Luciani to store, protect, and make the videos your Tesla records with TeslaCam or Sentry Mode available to your smartphone. That implies you can save them or share them instantly.

While Tesla erases the videos after about one hour or two, to save space, Roadie keeps them for more time. It is a handy solution for those accidents in which you did not have time to deal with the video, and it ends up lost. A hit-and-run, for example, or something as unexpected as that.

Another fantastic feature this device offers is saving the videos under the EXT4 filesystem. With the USB stick, you would get them in exFAT or FAT32. It may be compatible with a great variety of computer systems, but it is also very corruptible, according to the developer. Read what he said in the Roadie blog:

“The reason FAT formatting is so bad is it lacks basic durability features like a journal of writes which should be replayed if the disk suddenly dies.  And a file lookup table that is very easily corruptible, causing all files in a directory to just disappear!”

After connecting Roadie to your Tesla, all you need to check the videos in your smartphone is that the car is turned on – moving or with Sentry Mode activated – a wi-fi connection for Roadie and the app.

Roadie Is A Device That Lets You Watch Tesla-Made Videos Immediately

The device can be connected to your smartphone hotspot, to your home’s wi-fi or have a 4G modem for it on the car. Such an arrangement would have allowed Corrado to check the Sentry Mode video of the vandals trying to break his charging plug at the bed of the hotel. Fenton would still need the alarm to go off when Tesla windows were broken, something that apparently does not happen today.

Roadie Is A Device That Lets You Watch Tesla-Made Videos Immediately

Roadie is available in two options: 64 Gb (for $99.99) or 128 Gb (for $129.99). The Tesla Raj video shows different prices, probably from a short promotion. The ones now available at the website are the ones in this article. 

That is probably a fair price. Luciani submits all Roadies to rigorous quality control before shipping.

 

Joking aside, you can get your Roadie anywhere in the world since the company also ships internationally. Will Tesla ever offer something of this kind? Why doesn't it already offer this? Is it for cybersecurity concerns? We have no idea. Anyway, it is good to know you have that possibility already available in case you find it useful.

Got a tip for us? Email: tips@insideevs.com