My wife and I are getting a new AWD Model 3 next Tuesday in KC. Last the real question I have is “Should I get TelsaFi?” It’s my wife’s car and family car for driving. She’s not real tech savvy, but she can do some things. Is the service worth it? What does it do beyond the Tesla app? Thanks for the help.
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TeslaFi or Not? That is the Question
- Thread starter kcroyaljosh
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- teslafi
I have tesla fi mostly for the information I can derive from the software tracker. It's just a thing. Teslafi from what I see will give you accurate data of your trip length, duration, elevation changes, cost of power used for the trip. I think you can add a few more data points. It's useful if that sort of thing is of interest to you. To be honest it isn't anything that is going to fill a need that has to be filled.
As a part of the tesla community, it gives a representation of what is happening, so the more people subscribed the better, (as far as the fleet software aspect).
If you do subscribe I would suggest you don't opt for instant messaging to your phone for whatever they send you about the status of the car. Lots of notifications that I found I didn't want to be bothered by.
As a part of the tesla community, it gives a representation of what is happening, so the more people subscribed the better, (as far as the fleet software aspect).
If you do subscribe I would suggest you don't opt for instant messaging to your phone for whatever they send you about the status of the car. Lots of notifications that I found I didn't want to be bothered by.
willow_hiller
Well-Known Member
Alternatively, if you have any development experience, there are a few different documentations of the Tesla API. Here's one I used to grab my car's metadata: Introduction
I use it because I just like looking at the data (battery graph and lifetime map) and also to help track business miles. Try it for a month (free) and see if you find it useful or not.
In any case, be sure to start it before you get the car to get every last drop of mile accounted for. I started mine 2 days after and the missing first 50 miles is killing me!
In any case, be sure to start it before you get the car to get every last drop of mile accounted for. I started mine 2 days after and the missing first 50 miles is killing me!
Tam
Well-Known Member
In the old days, I manually wrote down my trips to keep track of mileage, time, and gasoline cost.
With TeslaFi, I can continue the practice with Tesla but by not manually writing the data down. I can look it up instead.
If you didn't manually keep track of your MPG with your gasoline car before, I am not sure why you would want to start the habit with an automatic data logger.
Totally unnecessary. It’s for obsessive techies who want to see a lot of data, and not helpful for the average driver. If it was necessary, Tesla would provide it rather than a third party. And I say this as someone who has driven Teslas since 2013.
I have hand logged all of my trips since late 2012 , started using teslafi late 2016 but am still hand logging all trip data (originally to track battery range/ degradation for inquisitive naysayers). There have been a lot of features and data analysis added since then. + I got LTE recently so now I don't lose nearly as much data in the hills - super nice!!
Useful for preheating at a set time in the morning with conditions that I am at a GPS location (home) and plugged in + it sets temperature in case it was not set to what I want it at in the morning
other neat features - random stuff like this, curious how much charge time on average is needed?
lifetime charging totals. trip maps. can go back and look to see how much range you actually needed to go somewhere & trip times.
Useful for preheating at a set time in the morning with conditions that I am at a GPS location (home) and plugged in + it sets temperature in case it was not set to what I want it at in the morning
other neat features - random stuff like this, curious how much charge time on average is needed?
lifetime charging totals. trip maps. can go back and look to see how much range you actually needed to go somewhere & trip times.
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turok3000
Member
You can trial it for 2 weeks before having to pay anything so just give it a go.
One of my favourite aspects is being able to check on the status of the car without waking it up (which of course is what would happen with the tesla app).
It’s neat. If you are willing to spend $50 or whatever it is on neat then do it.
I personally like the IOS “Stats” app, it allows the usage of Siri commands and gives me location awareness for auto Sentry mode enablement. EG don’t turn Sentry mode at my home, work, some other theoretical safe place but turn on everywhere else.
I personally like the IOS “Stats” app, it allows the usage of Siri commands and gives me location awareness for auto Sentry mode enablement. EG don’t turn Sentry mode at my home, work, some other theoretical safe place but turn on everywhere else.
bsietz
Member
TeslaFi - absolutely. As someone mentioned above I didn't start when I first got my car - it was over a month and I would have loved to have this data!
In addition to tracking usage for drives, charges, idles, etc it will calculate your charging costs and savings over gas.
Another new feature is you can enable sentry mode per location or at all locations so you don't need to manually enable it in the car before you exit.
You get a two week free trial - worth it! If you use my referral code: bsietz you get an extra two weeks, however in all fairness you may PM one of the others who spoke up before me to get their referral code.
-Brian
In addition to tracking usage for drives, charges, idles, etc it will calculate your charging costs and savings over gas.
Another new feature is you can enable sentry mode per location or at all locations so you don't need to manually enable it in the car before you exit.
You get a two week free trial - worth it! If you use my referral code: bsietz you get an extra two weeks, however in all fairness you may PM one of the others who spoke up before me to get their referral code.
-Brian
Absolutely true. I love TeslaFi and definitely classify myself as an obsessive techie who wants to see a lot of data
Oh man, a whole month! I guess I can consider myself lucky only missing two days!
And I did PM him earlier regarding my referral code, but he is free to do as he pleases
Absolutely not!!!
It's one of those band-aids for range anxiety type people to become anal about their driving and utilization. Sure, it gives you all sorts of numbers that you may worry about, post about, and end up doing nothing at all with.
Enjoy the car, drive the car, don't worry about the car, don't worry about the battery. It is much more fun that way.
It really is so much more fun to just drive the car!
It's one of those band-aids for range anxiety type people to become anal about their driving and utilization. Sure, it gives you all sorts of numbers that you may worry about, post about, and end up doing nothing at all with.
Enjoy the car, drive the car, don't worry about the car, don't worry about the battery. It is much more fun that way.
It really is so much more fun to just drive the car!
I see how it can be attractive to those who want to be able to track tons of data points about their car but it definitely isn't something you need. I've had my Model 3 for over a year now and have never used TeslaFi or any 3rd party apps with it. The functionality that the official Tesla mobile app gives you is plenty for the majority of people.
About the only thing I do use TeslaFi for is to keep track of when new software gets released to the fleet, and that part of it is publicly accessible: TeslaFi.com Firmware Tracker
About the only thing I do use TeslaFi for is to keep track of when new software gets released to the fleet, and that part of it is publicly accessible: TeslaFi.com Firmware Tracker
I've used it for nearly the whole time I've had my car. It's fun for the data-obsessed, and does not (despite what you'll read from many supposed experts) significantly increase vampire drain when properly configured. It makes it simple to look at interesting stats, and can be super-useful for those who must track mileage for business purposes. It also gives you several capabilities that Tesla has not yet provided, such as auto-enabling Sentry mode, enabling Sentry mode for certain locations, auto-preconditioning the cabin (again at certain locations if desired), changing the charge limit automatically, reminding you to plug in when at home, etc.
It's a useful tool if its capabilities are things that you value.
With that said, if you're going to use TeslaFi (or any other third-party tool relying on the Tesla APIs), make sure that you understand the implications--this third party will have access to all the data available through the API. I'm OK with this in TeslaFil's case, but it's something everyone should be aware of before granting that access.
As others have mentioned, you can double your free trial by using someone's referral code (that referrer will receive a $5 TeslaFi credit if you eventually sign up for a paid sub). My referral code is my TMC username, in case anyone would like to use mine.
It's a useful tool if its capabilities are things that you value.
With that said, if you're going to use TeslaFi (or any other third-party tool relying on the Tesla APIs), make sure that you understand the implications--this third party will have access to all the data available through the API. I'm OK with this in TeslaFil's case, but it's something everyone should be aware of before granting that access.
As others have mentioned, you can double your free trial by using someone's referral code (that referrer will receive a $5 TeslaFi credit if you eventually sign up for a paid sub). My referral code is my TMC username, in case anyone would like to use mine.
Personally I'm not comfortable with giving my Tesla username/password, or an access token to any 3rd party site.
It's not that I don't trust the people running TeslaFi, it's that there's a danger of their site being breached, as we've seen with hundreds of other sites in the last few years. After that, depending upon how their internal systems are setup, the attacker could get location data for lots of cars, and in the worst case, the ability to remotely unlock them.
It's not that I don't trust the people running TeslaFi, it's that there's a danger of their site being breached, as we've seen with hundreds of other sites in the last few years. After that, depending upon how their internal systems are setup, the attacker could get location data for lots of cars, and in the worst case, the ability to remotely unlock them.
Definitely use PIN to drive, even if you aren't using a 3rd party site.
Not at all trying to convince you to join, but FYI almost all of these third-party platforms claim they don't store any usernames/passwords. They just use it one time to generate an API token that is then used to access the data going forward.
SalisburySam
Active Member
Need? No. Want? Maybe.
I’m not much of a data nerd, but I do find the data aggragations interesting. For example, I know at any point how much electrons have cost me separated by DC (Superchargers) and AC (home EVSE). DC shows actual charges to my credit card, and AC shows consumption times my rate for electricity. I like that.
TeslaFi also shows a record of firmware changes, both the revision numbers and the days between updates. Could be manually logged, but don’t need to.
I really like the newly-added feature to automatically enable Sentry Mode at locations I’ve tagged. Since Sentry must be enabled each and every time from the car or Tesla app, this helps me a lot.
Current pricing is $50/year or $5/month. Could go up, but at that rate the information has been a nice adjunct to Tesla ownership and I plan to retain TeslaFi.
There are already new 3rd-party apps coming along (“Stats,” “Teslastics,” just to name two) and I’m sure more will come as the vehicles become more widespread. That said, for me, the newer apps are non-starters as none of them at this point can import previously captured data. For someone starting from scratch, it matters less.
Other posters have shared the best advice: try the trial. If you like it, great. If you don’t, try one of the other ones.
I’m not much of a data nerd, but I do find the data aggragations interesting. For example, I know at any point how much electrons have cost me separated by DC (Superchargers) and AC (home EVSE). DC shows actual charges to my credit card, and AC shows consumption times my rate for electricity. I like that.
TeslaFi also shows a record of firmware changes, both the revision numbers and the days between updates. Could be manually logged, but don’t need to.
I really like the newly-added feature to automatically enable Sentry Mode at locations I’ve tagged. Since Sentry must be enabled each and every time from the car or Tesla app, this helps me a lot.
Current pricing is $50/year or $5/month. Could go up, but at that rate the information has been a nice adjunct to Tesla ownership and I plan to retain TeslaFi.
There are already new 3rd-party apps coming along (“Stats,” “Teslastics,” just to name two) and I’m sure more will come as the vehicles become more widespread. That said, for me, the newer apps are non-starters as none of them at this point can import previously captured data. For someone starting from scratch, it matters less.
Other posters have shared the best advice: try the trial. If you like it, great. If you don’t, try one of the other ones.
Swampgator
Active Member
I've had it since day one of my Tesla ownership. That said, I do find myself looking at it less and less as I get the hang of things.
It is cheap though and if you are interested in stats, costs, who has what software version, etc. It's pretty awesome for that.
It is cheap though and if you are interested in stats, costs, who has what software version, etc. It's pretty awesome for that.
But Telsafi increase your battery drain a lot.
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