Tesla releases first API for third-party apps

Tesla has officially published API documentation to support third-party apps – after years of working with an unofficial API.

For now, the interfaces are focused on fleet management, but developers hope this is the first step toward creating a healthy ecosystem of apps.

The automaker has repeatedly talked about releasing an SDK to create a full ecosystem of third-party apps that work with cars equipped with huge touchscreens and connectivity to the Web. Since then, Tesla has only launched an unofficial API that lets you build some basic apps, but it’s mostly been used for mobile and browser-based apps and hasn’t been a fully documented API.

In 2016, CEO Ilon Musk said that the plan was to instead move to mirroring apps from the phone to a central console. This is similar to services like Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, where the phone is responsible for displaying infotainment information on the car’s display. Meanwhile, CarPlay is another feature that many Tesla owners have been demanding, but Tesla seems to have given up on it as well, as it prefers to create the user experience in its cars itself. Earlier this summer, we learned that Tesla was taking steps to officially use third-party apps, and an official API was rumored to be coming soon.

Now, the automaker has officially published the FleetAPI documentation, marking a major step towards creating a healthy third-party app community. The move is likely due to the fact that Tesla recently released new fleet management and rental software in conjunction with Hertz, which manages Tesla’s huge fleet of rental cars.

The company likely had to make official access via API for this project, and now it’s making it available to everyone.

This is good news, as there were several thriving companies creating third-party apps for Tesla, but they were operating in a gray area, making their position somewhat precarious. Now, if these apps can work with the official API, they will become a legitimate business, and this could spur new ones.

Right now, apps are still limited in their ability to access the API, but this could be the first step toward creating a Tesla “app store.”