Why do I need to update my Tesla Account connection? What is the Tesla Fleet API?

NOTE: In Spring 2025, Tesla added a new Vehicle Location permission which is now required for drive and charge tracking functionality. Please see the Vehicle Location section below for more information.


Until 2023, all connections to Tesla accounts have used an unofficial way of communicating with Tesla's servers to capture vehicle data and send commands. This connection is referred to as an Application Programming Interface (API for short).


In late 2023, Tesla announced their new, official third-party Fleet API which enhances security and allows third parties, such as TezLab, to establish connections to vehicles in an officially supported way.


The new Tesla Fleet API comes with a variety of security enhancements for TezLab members, including:

  • Granular control over the apps that are communicating with your Tesla Account and the ability to manage them from within your account at Tesla.com.
  • The ability for TezLab to specifically identify itself as an official, approved third-party app when communicating with vehicles.
  • Completely revamped and enhanced security around car controls.
    • Using Tesla's new Fleet API, TezLab will now cryptographically sign all commands that you send to your vehicle to validate that they have, in fact, originated from an action you've taken in our app.
    • Now, when a command is sent to your vehicle, your vehicle will look for the signature first to ensure that the command is legitimate, and then action it. If the signature doesn't match up, the vehicle will ignore the command.
    • The first time you send a command using this new connection, we'll link you to the Tesla App so that you can add a code to your vehicle that allows your car to verify TezLab's signature. This code shows up in your vehicle as a "virtual key" and can be deleted at any time from your vehicle's screen.
  • Instead of polling the vehicle to repeatedly read the current state, vehicles can send telemetry signals as needed.

Tesla Account Permissions/Scopes

When switching your account connection, you will be asked to grant TezLab certain permissions, called scopes. Because the functionality built into TezLab has been split, by Tesla, across several categories, all scopes presented in this process are required for TezLab to function properly. Scopes that are not needed for TezLab to function are not requested as part of this process.


Rest assured, we take your security and privacy very seriously, and TezLab does not use this process to request any new permissions versus what was previously available under Tesla's old system (in fact, we request fewer).


The following is a brief description of the use for each of the requested scopes, all of these must be checked in order for TezLab to function properly:


  • Profile Information

    Used to connect to your Tesla account and retrieve a list of vehicles to present in TezLab. Coming soon: syncing your profile photo automatically from your Tesla account.

    ℹ️ TezLab does not access or store account contact information.


  • Vehicle Information

    Used to connect to your vehicle(s) to capture data necessary to derive and calculate the drives, charges, and statistics you see in TezLab.


  • Vehicle Commands

    Enables you to send commands to your vehicle via TezLab.

    ℹ️ TezLab never sends commands to your vehicle without your request.


  • Vehicle Location (🆕 IN 2025)

    Necessary for calculating drives and charges.

    ℹ️ This permission overlaps with Vehicle Information, and both are required to accurately capture charges.


    Note: The Vehicle Location permission was added by Tesla in 2025. Previously, this was covered by the Vehicle Information permission. If you last signed into TezLab before Vehicle Location existed, you will be prompted to update permissions. This is required in order for Drives and Charges to be properly captured.


  • Vehicle Charging Management

    Used to connect to your vehicle and capture data necessary to derive and calculate the charging information and history you see in TezLab, including syncing Tesla Supercharger session costs where possible.

    ℹ️ This permission overlaps with Vehicle Information, and both are required to accurately capture charges.

    ℹ️ This permission overlaps with Vehicle Commands, and both are required to start, stop, or adjust the charging level via the controls screen in TezLab.