How is data captured?

Tesla Model 3, Y, Cybertruck, and post-2021 S, X

Once you sign into TezLab, you will be prompted to enroll a Virtual Key into your vehicle. This Virtual Key is required in order to establish an end-to-end encrypted connection between TezLab and your Vehicle ( more info here ).

Once the Virtual Key is confirmed to be enrolled, TezLab will send a Tesla Fleet Telemetry configuration to your vehicle. This instructs your vehicle to stream certain metrics (called 'signals') to our secure Telemetry servers. As Tesla charges us for each signal streamed, TezLab Pro members benefit from significantly more detailed telemetry which provides higher levels of accuracy and access to more metrics.

As TezLab receives telemetry from your vehicle, the data is aggregated and processed into all the data you see in the app (i.e. drives & charges).

For vehicles using Tesla Fleet Telemetry, TezLab never sends data requests to the vehicle. The vehicle is always responsible for sending data to TezLab. This means that there is zero impact on vehicle sleep.

Tesla Location Icon

The Tesla Fleet Telemetry Configuration sent to your vehicle includes the vehicle's location (so that drives and charges can be accurately tracked). Because Telemetry is always active, and the vehicle determines what to send and when, you may see this icon on your screen consistently. This does not mean that TezLab is 'pinging' your vehicle repeatedly, rather it indicates an active telemetry configuration, and that your vehicle will stream data as needed.

Pre-2021 Tesla Model S/X, and Rivian

Once you sign into TezLab, our servers communicate with your vehicle on a regular interval executing what we call a "poll". Each poll captures a current-state snapshot of data from your vehicle. These snapshots are then compared and aggregated in order to generate the data you see in the app.

Polling takes place at varying intervals based on the activity level of the vehicle. while the vehicle is active, and slows to between 3-5 minutes dynamically for inactive vehicles (except when a sleep mode is active). 

Pro users benefit from more frequent polling (as frequent as every 30s while active) for more detailed data. 

All drive/charge communication with your vehicle is done “in the cloud” via our servers. Your phone does not need to be with you (or even on) in order to capture data.