Hi all,
Just wanted to hop back in here with a quick update after chatting with the Tesla team last week.
Unfortunately, it looks like we won’t be able to sort out API access before the February 1st, 2025 deadline. That means this app will stop working after that date.
Tesla has decided to start charging for API usage, and their fees are substantial—around $100k per month based on the current number of users. As you can imagine, this is not a sustainable cost for us.
Here are a few takeaways from the meeting:
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It feels like Tesla is pretty nervous about giving control of their devices to third parties. These high fees seem like their way of discouraging hobbyist projects without outright banning them. Of course, the costs of keeping everything running everything probably play a role too.
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Tesla expressed interest in working with Homey, though they’re still determining what that collaboration might look like. Last year, they announced a partnership with SmartThings, but not much has come from it yet. It seems they may be cautious about handing over energy management responsibilities to third parties.
I’ve sent over some Homeys for Tesla to play around with, and we’ve got some follow-up meetings lined up to figure out how we can shape this partnership. For now, though, we’ll need to practice a bit of patience.
I’m also checking in with partners like Tibber to see how they’re planning to handle this situation—hoping to pick up some useful insights there.
I’ll keep y’all posted!
