Tesla starts offering official APIs for its vehicles and energy services
Not a Tesla App
Tesla's vehicles have long been a playground for tech enthusiasts. Through reverse engineering, developers have accessed Tesla's APIs for years, giving birth to third-party services that track vehicle metrics, deliver notifications and even help manage whole fleets of Teslas. However, this free-for-all is nearing its end, as Tesla has unveiled official API documents, signaling a more structured future.
APIs, or Application Programming Interfaces, serve as communication bridges between software applications. Think of an API as a waiter taking your order and bringing food to your table; it fetches data from one application and serves it to another. Developers leverage APIs to create applications and services that interact with platforms like Tesla or X, providing enriched or unique user experiences.
The Details So Far: A Glimpse into Tesla's API Plan
Tesla is being a bit cryptic. While all specifics aren't out, they're offering a Free Trial, with APIs being "temporarily free" during this period. The primary tier introduced is the "Discovery" tier. The current Discovery tier presents challenges for third-party services. Why? Because the Discovery tier allows one data request per car every 5 minutes. Many services pull data far more frequently, making this a potential bottleneck for context.
Moreover, Tesla has indicated that the Discovery tier is just a stepping stone and will evolve in 2024, but there's no word on limits or pricing of other tiers.
While more prominent third-party services may adjust, like Uber, smaller projects often set up by Tesla owners using open-source software, like TeslaMate — may bear the brunt. The new official API versions appear more restrictive than Tesla's existing ones and could introduce charges, making it hard for smaller services to operate in their current form.
Déjà vu: Remembering Twitter's API Overhaul
This move mirrors another of Elon Musk's ventures: X. After acquiring Twitter, before renaming it X, Musk revamped the API access to boost revenue for a social media platform that was headed for bankruptcy. Twitter's straightforward free access system was transformed to include tiered charges — some costing thousands a month. Developers, a bedrock of Twitter's ecosystem, were in a frenzy. Some had to shut down their projects, while others passed the added costs to users.
While it's still early for Tesla's API shift, it signals a broader trend in Musk-led ventures. Both Tesla and X's decisions underscore the business tug-of-war between enhancing profits and nurturing a community. While official APIs will introduce some benefits, such as users gaining more control over their data. Developers, the unsung heroes behind numerous tools and services, now find themselves on this tightrope, with end-users possibly facing the fallout of reduced features or higher charges.
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Tesla has begun to reach out to customers in the United States and is offering demo drives of the Cybertruck on an invite-only basis. @brandonhd on X shared the first invite image, and it looks like it's going out quite quickly to multiple locations that have Cybertrucks on display.
Up until now, display vehicles have been for just that – looking, but no touching. Some Tesla delivery centers and showrooms have also allowed viewers to take a seat inside and open it up, but most are still locked away behind the velvet rope.
It’s exciting to see that Tesla has begun to demo them – and it can only be so long until demo drives open up to everyone.
Advisor-led Demo
This Demo Drive is led by a Tesla Advisor – while you’re driving, the advisor will be in the passenger seat, walking you through the experience. They’ll explain steer-by-wire, off-road controls, and will introduce new-to-Tesla buyers to all the features that are currently available.
The list of locations so far for demo drives appears to be fairly limited, but we will hopefully see demo drives roll out throughout the United States, and eventually Canada too. Here is the current list of city/state locations that have seen demo drive invites.
Actually Smart Summon, the successor to Tesla’s Smart Summon feature, has been confirmed to be coming as soon as next month as per Elon Musk. Colloquially known as “ASS”, Actually Smart Summon is supposed to improve on the regular Smart Summon capabilities, which have historically used ultrasonic sensors (USS) to navigate parking lots.
We’re looking forward to Actually Smart Summon, and we’re quite excited about what other features will be unlocked once it finally shows up at our doorstep.
Vision-based Improvements
ASS is supposed to bring Smart Summon to vehicles that don’t have USS – using Tesla Vision. Most recently, Tesla has brought Autopark to vehicles without USS, and Vision-based Autopark has been a huge success. It is faster, more reliable, and smoother than the older USS-based solution. It can also park and maneuver in tighter locations.
Today, Smart Summon is sometimes useful at best, usually a party trick, or downright dangerous at worst. It’s excellent and best used in straight lines, where you have a clear line of sight of the vehicle, and can stop it if doesn’t see an obstacle.
I used Smart Summon today, just before writing this article – my 2022 Model Y (with USS) – did manage to show up just fine – in a straight-line location from where I was parked, after exiting the parking spot fairly cleanly. However, I’ve previously used Smart Summon and have had the vehicle turn towards obstacles, such as cart returns or curbs. Overall, it’s a sometimes-useful feature that has a lot of drawbacks right now.
Smart Summon is also restricted to a certain distance – and it's pretty small. The max distance is shorter than most parking lots, being only about 215 ft (65m). If you’re lucky enough to park close, it's very useful to bring your car right to you.
Actually Smart Summon
ASS will bring FSD V12-like capabilities to Smart Summon – the vehicle will primarily use Vision to drive toward you (or the location you’ve indicated). ASS has been supposed to be coming since about September 2022 and has seen many delays – we’re almost at the 2-year point today.
We’re looking forward to Actually Smart Summon being able to bring the vehicle – safely – right to you. ASS is also one of the key steps towards bringing some other cool features that Elon Musk has previously mentioned – Park Seek and Banish Autopark.
We’re also hopeful that Actually Smart Summon will increase the maximum range a vehicle can be summoned, because the current range is fairly small. Alongside Park Seek and Banish Autopark, we’re closing in on a Robotaxi-based future.
Park Seek and Banish Autopark
When the FSD v12.4 showed up, Elon also mentioned that going forward, vehicles would automatically park themselves when arriving in a parking lot – Park Seek – and that if you got out of the car at the entrance to a business, you could get it to automatically park itself in the parking lot – Banish Autopark. These are two features that are needed for Robotaxi to work – which itself is delayed to October 10th of this year. We’re looking quite forward to them – as in combination with Actually Smart Summon, Tesla has reached the cusp of vehicle autonomy.
A vehicle that arrives, driverless, at the location you’re at, then drives somewhere, parks itself there, and waits for you – is the definition of a Robotaxi.
While we’re likely to have to wait for Banish Autopark and Park Seek just a bit longer, Actually Smart Summon being around the corner is exciting! Gone will be the days of having to run out to your car when you forgot your umbrella – your car will just come right to you instead.
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