Tesla Creates Official APIs for Third-Party Services; To Start Charging for Usage

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.

Tesla Starts Offering Enhanced Autopilot Subscription in China, FSD Coming Soon?

Tesla has started offering Enhanced Autopilot (EAP) in China via a subscription starting at 699 yuan per month — equivalent to about $98.5 USD. It’s the first time Tesla owners in the country will have access to features such as auto lane change, Autopark, Smart Summon, and others.

It’s not clear whether Tesla will begin to offer EAP as a subscription in other regions as well.

The move is seen as the first step towards the expansion of Tesla’s full self driving to China as other markets outside North America wait for the arrival of the FSD software. Yesterday, Tesla chief executive Elon Musk said the version 12 is “ready for supervised FSD in LHD countries” while RHD countries such as Australia, UK or Japan “will take a bit longer”.

FSD in China

China giant Baidu announced last Monday that it will provide all Tesla vehicles in China its latest version of Baidu Maps starting in May.

This week, Tesla celebrated its 10th anniversary in the Chinese Market where it has a total of 1.7 million owners — Tesla’s second largest market. Elon Musk recently tweeted that Tesla may soon offer full self-driving in China by saying “It may be possible very soon”.

FSD in Europe

On Friday, the Senior Advisor of the Swedish Transport Transportation, Rikard Fredriksson, shared on LinkedIn that he had been demoed the FSD technology in Germany with a Tesla employee. The moment marks the first official use of the assisted driving software in Europe. 

Impressive smooth and natural driving

LinkedIn Post by Rikard Fredriksson after the FSD Demo in Germany

In the recent earnings call, Elon Musk said Tesla has over 300 million miles that has been driven with FSD v12 since it was launched just last month. He added that it's becoming “very clear that the vision-based approach with end-to-end neural networks is the right solution for scalable autonomy”.

Tesla said it has been investing in the hardware and software ecosystems necessary to achieve vehicle autonomy and a ride-hailing service. The company is confident that it can establish a scalable and profitable autonomous driving business by employing a vision-only architecture.

Tesla has recently reduced the pricing of its “Full Self-Driving” software in the US, from $12,000 to $8,000, and in Canada from CA$16,000 to $11,000. This price reduction follows a 50% cut in the subscription fee announced earlier this month.

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Rivian Follows Suit, Will Open Up Charging Network to Teslas

Electric vehicle maker Rivian Automotive has announced that it will open up its Rivian Adventure Network (RAN) chargers to Teslas and other EVs later this year.

The Rivian Adventure Network is a comprehensive network of fast-charging sites very similar to Tesla’s own Superchargers. According to Rivian, the Rivian Adventure Network is powered by 100% renewable energy.

New Rivian Chargers

In a post on X, Rivian added that it would introduce new chargers with a tap-to-pay experience to support “a wide range of EVs across a variety of battery voltages.”

Expanding RAN chargers and introducing new tap-to-pay chargers is a clear indication that Rivian is trying to increase customer convenience while ratcheting up its brand value.

All Rivian vehicles and most other EVs still use the CCS connector until they transition to NACS in the next few years. These new chargers will likely include a combination of NACS and CCS connectors to support Rivian’s current and future vehicles that will come equipped with an NACS port.

Charging a Tesla at a Rivian Charge

With over 50,000 Supercharger stalls, Tesla operates the biggest fast-charging network in the world. And 25,000 of these are located in the United States alone. The simplicity of charging at a Supercharger is part of the appeal. Tesla takes care of everything from initiating charging to billing. It ends up being no different than charging at home.

Tesla’s Supercharger network has a stellar reputation, mostly due to its high charging speed and reliability, which Tesla closely monitors in real-time. Major electric vehicle makers will start switching to NACS in the next few years and considering that the Supercharger network is highly trusted, one can see more non-Tesla EVs lining up at Superchargers soon. Giving Tesla owners more choice of where to charge may be crucial to combat congestion.

Rivian currently has over 400 charging stalls across 22 states but plans to expand to more than 600 chargers.

Making Rivian Chargers Just as Simple

While Rivian plans to add a tap-to-pay terminal to its new chargers, it’ll be difficult to beat the convenience of Superchargers for Tesla owners. After Rivian opens up its chargers to other EVs, Tesla owners would need to buy and use CCS to NACS adapters to charge at these networks, although not every Tesla supports the adapter. You can check if your vehicle supports the Tesla adapter.

To simplify the process for Tesla owners, Tesla would also need to interface with Rivian’s chargers to make billing as seamless as it is on its own Supercharger network.

Rivians Charging at Superchargers

Rivian has already begun shipping its customers NACS-to-CCS adapters to charge their vehicles at Tesla Supercharger.

Rivian officially got access to Tesla’s Supercharger network in March 2024. For now, only two companies–Ford and Rivian–have received access to charge at more than 15,000 Tesla Supercharger stalls. More companies like GM, Polestar, and Volvo will get access the following spring.

But Rivian is not stopping at NACS-to-CCS connectors. The Tesla rival plans to switch completely to the NACS port in 2025, at which point they’ll provide their owners a CCS to NACS adapter.

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