Teslamate, Tezlab, Tessie… So many Tesla apps have come after Teslafi, which leaves you wondering, is Teslafi still the best in the market like it was a few years ago?
Well, to address this confusion of my readers, I’ve compiled this unbiased Teslafi review.
We’ll discuss Teslafi’s features, cost, how it compares to its competitors, and more in this ultimate Teslafi app review.
So if you want to know if it’s worth it to pay $50/year for Teslafi in 2023, read on!
What Is Teslafi and How Does It Work?
In essence, Teslafi is a data aggregator for Tesla owners.
Think about it as a Tesla journal — your car provides the data, and Teslafi logs it all and keeps it organized.
- Curious about the maximum speed your kids drove when you lend them your car?
- Want to know the exact amount of business miles you put in last year?
- Need evidence you were in a location at a certain time of day to fight a lawsuit?
Teslafi has logged all those data points for you.
Now before we get into the features of the Teslafi app, there is one question that worries Tesla owners. Let’s address it first.
⚠️ Warning: Is Granting Access to Teslafi Safe?
To get started, Tesla owners visit Teslafi’s website and allow access to their car’s data by logging into their Tesla account.
“Wait a sec… Is this safe?” you may be thinking.
Fortunately, it is… kind of.
Just like the “Sign Up With Google” feature many applications have, you’re actually not giving your login details to anyone.
Instead, you’re allowing the two applications to talk to each other and share information.
Technically speaking, when you log in to your Tesla account, Teslafi simply requests an API token to access the car’s data.
If you’re savvy enough, you can actually enter the API token without ever giving away the credentials of your Tesla account.
Do keep in mind that Tesla’s API isn’t publicly documented for third-party apps.
Whenever Tesla makes changes, third-party services like Teslafi may be unable to communicate to Tesla’s servers for a while. (It’s happened a handful of times already.)
Just like it happened to Farmville on Facebook, people debate whether these data apps will be forced to shut down in the future due to Tesla’s changes.
Many are using the app while they still can.
Teslafi App Features Walkthrough
While Teslafi’s interface is downright embarrassing (C’mon, Teslafi founders! You can do better. With 14,000+ vehicles in your fleet, I bet you can afford a UI designer — even if it’s a $25/hour freelancer from Upwork), Teslafi’s features are widely accepted as the best.
Let’s discuss each in detail.
Main Dashboard & Primary Data Points
When you sign up and sync your Tesla, Teslafi will present some basic data points at the top of the screen:
- Current idling/sleeping time
- Doors status (locked/unlocked)
- Rated range
- Estimated range, which has proven to be more accurate to many Tesla owners
- Inside and outside temperature
- Miles driven (odometer)
Below those data points, every driving, charging, sleeping, or idling session is presented in a timeline and can be analyzed day by day.
Different events can also be toggled on or off based on your needs.
Let’s dive into what each major Teslafi feature can do.
Automating Your Tesla Life
This may be the coolest Teslafi feature of all: command scheduling.
From daily locking the doors at 8 p.m. to reminding you to plug in every week to flashing the lights at 5 a.m. to scare the neighbors (ha!), Teslafi enables you to automate things you’d otherwise have to do manually all the time.
Sure, Tesla’s app can automate some of these tasks… but not all of them.
This feature is a time saver and a major reason many Teslafi users happily pay for the service.
Know Your Miles (And Your Gas Savings) in Extreme Detail
Ever wanted definitive proof of your gas savings to justify the car purchase to yourself and your spouse?
Then look no further.
Insert your electricity rate and a miles-per-gallon reference (e.g., your previous gas car) to see how much each drive cost you — and how much you save on gas on each trip.
You might be pleasantly surprised to know how cheap those family trips are…
Or you may realize those gym trips, 15 miles each way, are adding up to $20/month, prompting you to reconsider a gym closer to home.
Whatever it may be, you’ve got the data to gain insights from, and that’s the benefit of a vehicle built for the 21st century.
Detailed Charging Sessions
Enumerating the total number of charges you’ve done, Teslafi provides a summary of each charging session, along with its efficiency, total time, location, and more.
You can also see charging data from a high-level view (e.g., average time per charge or total charging costs over the life of the vehicle).
Whenever that friend of yours asks again how much it cost to charge…
You’ll have a clear answer based on your Teslafi statistics.
How’s Your Battery Holding Up?
Degradation myths are all over the place.
It pays to have a detailed log of how your estimated range has changed over time.
Although not as comprehensive as an actual app that tracks your battery’s health like TM-Spy, Teslafi gives a quick glimpse at the metric most people care about: estimated range over time.
See Your Recent Data at a Glance
Each drive is mapped out on a calendar for you to remember where you’ve been recently.
Have children old enough to drive?
You could quickly see whether or not they’re obeying the speed limit — and if they’re going somewhere they never told you they’d go.
Sure, they deserve some privacy…
But if they’re 16 or 17, you may want to know what they’re up to.
***
The app has other features like maps, elevation, sleep and idling sessions, and so on. Although useful, these aren’t as popular in the Tesla community.
Let us continue with the feature I love the most…
Warning: You may feel compelled to beat your fellow Tesla owners.
Leaderboards & Gamification
I’m competitive by nature — and many Tesla owners are.
Teslafi taps into that desire to compete by aggregating data into rankings of all kinds.
Witness the longest drives the community has done (or simply attempt to beat your own personal record).
For those who love setting records and enjoy being in first place, the challenge and the pressure are real.
It’s like winning a hypermiling contest… with no prize.
The Competitive Edge of Teslafi App Over Its Competitors
I wondered why the app has been the leader in the space for so long.
Clearly, it has an edge, but why do Tesla owners get hooked to the app?
I’ve got two arguments in this regard.
#1 The developers add features continuously.
A member of the Tesla Motors Reddit group had this to say when asked about the different apps that exist like Tezlab & TeslaSpy:
“TeslaFi is pretty great. I’ve been a paid member for 9 months now, and the developers continue to add new features all the time. One time I found a bug and they resolved it hours after reporting it.”
If you find a problem or have a suggestion, your voice will be heard.
#2 They’ve been around for a long time
Since early 2016, in fact, according to forum threads.
By being available back when the Model 3 had been recently unveiled (and only Model S and X were being produced), they established themselves as the data app to beat.
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Teslafi Referral Code & Pricing
As of this writing, Teslafi costs $5 per month — or $50 per year, when billed upfront.
Sign up for a 14-day free trial to determine whether the app is worth the money before you pay.
Or extend your trial to 30 days by signing up with a referral code.
As I currently don’t have a referral code, consider using “Undecided.” Matt deserves it after all.
Third-Party Teslafi Reviews: What Others Have to Say
With quite an interesting name, Mother Frunker shares a video walkthrough of all TeslaFi tabs.
No comparisons are made between alternative apps but the walkthrough is very comprehensive. It gives you an idea of what the app is capable of.
If you’re a video person, I encourage you to check this one out.
Matt Ferrell from Undecided, one of my favorite Tesla & renewable technology channels, discusses Teszlab vs. TeslaFi in a 19-minute video.
As a UI/UX designer, Matt’s very critical of Teslafi’s humiliating interface design.
However, Matt discusses each app’s strengths and weaknesses in extreme detail, with Teslafi winning overall in his opinion.
P.S. Matt suspected at the time that Tezlab planned on selling your data as a revenue source. He posted an update after the Tezlab team reached out confirming this wasn’t the case.
Best Alternatives to Teslafi
Since Teslafi’s launch, plenty of alternative apps have emerged. Many with seemingly superior technology and user experience.
How do competitors compare to Teslafi?
Let’s find out.
Teslafi vs. Tezlab
Tezlab stands out as a much, much more visually-appealing user experience and interface.
Beautiful doesn’t mean easier to understand, however. As Matt Ferrell explained, Tezlab shows many graphs that don’t make much sense.
The app is free for life, too.
If they aren’t charging you, however, does their business model relies on selling YOUR data?
You should be wary of “free” when it comes to apps that gather private data about you and where you go.
Tezlab’s Head of Product told TechCrunch,
“I think we can create something really meaningful, without getting into the business of selling data.”
Storage (access to your historical data) and more advanced features seem to be the monetization plan, not your private data.
The jury’s still out on whether Tezlab is superior to Teslafi. You’re free to try Tezlab out for yourself using this link.
Teslafi vs. Stats for Tesla
With a one-time purchase, you may want to consider Stats for Tesla if you hate subscriptions as much as I do.
It’s only available for iOS, though. iPhone & Apple Watch users will benefit from it but Android folks will be left behind.
Check out more details on their website.
Teslafi vs. TeslaMate
Being an open-source app, TeslaMate benefits both from transparency on the developing end and user privacy.
They’ve figured out how to make a self-hosted yet stable application:
I’ve used TeslaFi for almost 2 years. I’ve been using Teslamate in docker for about 2 months and am impressed with [them] over some of the other self-hosted attempts I’ve tried. It is more stable and hasn’t crashed on me.
kcseay
It’s a hassle to set up though.
Only developers and very technical people will have an easy time getting the app up and running quickly.
If you want to dive into the different points of view of Teslafi vs. TeslaMate, here’s an entire debate.
And if the app sounds like a right fit for you, get started by taking a look at TeslaMate’s documentation.
Teslafi vs. TM-Spy
Created by the developers of the very well-received Leaf Spy (a battery data reporting app for Nissan Leaf owners), TM-Spy was built to provide the same detailed battery insights for Teslas.
By being focused on battery reports exclusively, TM-Spy reports are extremely detailed (from voltage to battery temperature and much more).
As such, I see this data being confusing to anyone but engineers or Tesla owners with an electrical/electronics background.
If you’re specifically looking for battery health and degradation reports, there’s no better app than TM-Spy (only available for Android).
For the driving, charging, and other data points we’ve discussed, Teslafi is the way to go.
Teslafi vs. Tessie
Even though Tessie is a relatively new product in the market, it still has managed to create a strong fan base. The reason is definitely its awesome features. The best one? It doesn’t wake up the car like Teslafi or other apps.
Here is an honest review about Tessie from a Tesla owner:
I’ve been using the Tessie app for ~4 months and love it. We’ll worth the $5/mo.
– App design is beautiful on iOS.
– charging/driving/parking (idle) stats are awesome. Ability to input your own electric rate and the current gas price let’s you compare your ev costs to ice. (Spoiler: I’m paying 2/3 less for electricity than I would for gas).
– all of the stats are filterable by date. You can go back and compare July usage to December usage, and see the actual difference in efficiency that you’re getting in warm vs cold months. Or query for that week you were on vacation and see where you went, how much energy you used, etc.
– the Alexa integration is awesome. “Alexa, warm up the car” is really convienent in the morning.
– opening the Tessie app never wakes the car. I like seeing the activity graph in Tessie to see how long my car has been sleeping and when it wakes up.
Some of these are not unique to Tessie, but I can’t imagine not having all of this data and going back to “just” the stock Tesla app.
sconnor
Compared to Teslafi, Tessie is definitely easier to use and has a nicer interface. But in terms of data points, Teslafi is definitely the winner.
For a day to day use, however, you can consider investing in the Tessie app. It’ll only cost you $4.99/month.
Final Thoughts: Teslafi Review
Overall, Teslafi remains the market leader in third-party data aggregation for Tesla owners.
With the exception of its lousy interface and poor user experience, most Tesla owners have nothing but good things to say about the company and its vehicle.
Take advantage of your 30-day free trial while you can and decide for yourself whether the app is perfect for you.
Zac Ludicrous
Mechanical engineer by profession. TSLA shareholder before the hype. EV enthusiast all day long. Zac enjoys learning about the future of battery technology, autonomy, and EVs. He considers Tesla Model 3 the most important vehicle of the 21st century -- and is in a quest to improve the ownership experience of every Model 3 owner he possibly can.These 5 rare tips can save you so much time and stress – and few owners know about them (even after years of ownership). Sign up below to learn more. It's free!
