Frequently asked questions

What is iCar, exactly?

iCar is a home screen for the web browser built into your Tesla. Instead of a blank page you get a grid of shortcuts, the weather, a map, your trips and your car's data.

The grid is managed from your phone and updates in the car within seconds, with nothing to retype on the touchscreen.

What address do I type in the car?

iCar is not an app to install: it is a website. On your Tesla's screen, open the browser, then enter this address.

Once the page opens, add it to your Tesla bookmarks: one tap reopens it on every drive. Nothing to install, nothing to update, and nothing a vehicle update can remove.

The screen will then show a short code to enter from your phone, to link it to your account.

geticar.com/app

How do I link my car's screen to my account?

The car shows a short code and a QR code. You scan it with your phone, or retype the code in the management area, and the screen is attached to your account. It takes about ten seconds and is not repeated.

One account can pair several screens: two Teslas, a phone, a computer.

Which Teslas are supported?

The bookmark grid, weather, map and trips work on any Tesla with the web browser, which covers most Model 3, Y, S and X.

Features that read vehicle data also need reasonably recent firmware. Cars too old to report it keep everything else, and the screen simply does not offer what they cannot do.

Can I play my own library in the car?

Yes, if you run a Plex server. You link your account once — a code to type on plex.tv, the way you would on a television set — and your films, series and music appear on the Tesla's screen, with their posters.

Music is what serves best: the picture is hidden as soon as the car moves, a track is listened to while driving. No streaming subscription, no quota, and a catalog that does not change under your feet.

Files go from your server to your car; they do not pass through us. Your server therefore needs to be reachable from outside your home, which is Plex's own default setting. A server shared with you by someone else works too.

Is there a phone app?

Yes, on iPhone and on Android: “iCar for Tesla”, on the App Store and on Google Play. It carries the management area — the grid, your cars, your trips, your charges and your account.

The management area also installs to your home screen straight from the browser, if you would rather download nothing.

What is free?

The bookmark grid, weather, map, clock, mini-apps, landmarks, the trip log, and on the road speed cameras, traffic and community reports. With no time limit and no advertising.

The subscription unlocks the features that rely on the Tesla account connection: battery, range and odometer, charging log, charge limit by place, Superchargers you can actually reach, and trips recorded by the car itself.

It also unlocks entertainment: your own Plex library, live television and games.

How much does the subscription cost?

Two plans, monthly or yearly, the yearly one working out at roughly ten months. Exact amounts are shown on the home page, in your currency and with the tax note that applies where you are.

Can I cancel whenever I want?

Yes, online, in two clicks, without writing to anyone. The period already paid for runs to its end and nothing renews after that.

A subscription bought inside the iOS app is canceled in iOS settings, like every App Store subscription.

How many cars can I connect?

Every car on your Tesla account shows up in the management area. The subscription covers data reporting for two vehicles at a time, which is enough for the vast majority of households.

Beyond that you choose which ones report, and nothing is ever cut off without you asking.

Do I have to connect my Tesla account?

Link it, and iCar becomes your car's dashboard: battery and real range, a charging log that tells you what each session actually cost, trips with their consumption, Superchargers within reach, and Sentry Mode, climate and locks a tap away on the home screen.

It takes one tap, through Tesla's own sign-in page: we never see your password, and you can unlink at any time.

iCar also works without it, as a customizable home screen with a trip log. Linking is simply what makes it a car app rather than a home screen.

What is the virtual key, and why does it ask for one?

Authorizing iCar in your Tesla account says "this account accepts this app". The virtual key says "this particular car recognizes this app", and it is what allows a command to be sent, such as setting a charge limit.

You add it from the Tesla app on your phone, car by car. A driver with two Teslas adds it twice.

Can iCar unlock or drive my car?

Drive it, no: nothing in Tesla's API allows that, for any app.

Unlock it, yes, when you ask. iCar controls what your Tesla app controls: locks, front and rear boot, climate and cabin temperature, Sentry Mode, Dog and Camp modes, Valet Mode, the charge limit, and sending a destination to the car's navigation.

Nothing ever happens on its own: every command follows a tap, on the car's screen or on your phone. It needs Tesla's virtual key, paired car by car, and you can withdraw the permission at any time from your Tesla account.

Why is my car screen not updating?

It updates on its own within seconds, with nothing to reload. If it sits still, it is almost always that the car has lost its connection: the screen picks up again by itself when it returns.

Do you know my address?

No, and that is a design decision. For the charge limit by place, the car only tells us "I am at home" or "I am at work", as two yes-or-no values. It does not tell us where that is, and we do not ask.

Likewise, a charge is tied to a charger's identifier, never to the coordinates where you plugged in.

Do you record where I go?

Your trips are recorded, so that My trips and My journeys have something to show. It is a switch in account settings, on by default, and you can turn it off: turned off, no position is kept.

That is the only place in iCar where a position is written. Everything else, weather, map, landmarks, serves your request of the moment and is not retained.

What happens if I delete my account?

You do it yourself, without writing to us: in the app, Account tab, at the very bottom of the list; on the web, from your account page. You retype your email address to confirm.

Your trips, bookmarks, paired screens and the link to your Tesla account are deleted with it, and any active subscription is canceled. It is immediate, and there is no way back.