Tesla in a grey market: when navigation doesn't work

You bought your Tesla in Réunion, Martinique or the Canary Islands, or you shipped it there from mainland Europe. The map shows up, your position is right, but you can’t start a route: the navigation arrow stays gray, and nothing happens. You are not alone, and your car isn’t broken.

What is a “grey market”?

A grey market, or grey zone, is a territory where Tesla doesn’t sell cars and has no store or service center. The Teslas driving there were imported, new or used, often from mainland France or another European country.

Tesla says so itself in its roadside assistance policy: the outermost regions of the European Union are not eligible. It lists them by name:

• Réunion, Martinique, Guadeloupe, French Guiana and Mayotte;
• Saint Martin;
• the Azores and Madeira;
• the Canary Islands.

The same policy also excludes the overseas territories of European countries (New Caledonia, French Polynesia…), Ceuta and Melilla, and every country where Tesla has no store or service center.

The symptom: everything works except the route

Owners in this situation all describe the same thing:

• the Tesla map shows up, with the car at its real position;
• the car’s web browser locates you correctly too;
• entering a destination does nothing: the navigation arrow stays gray, with no error message;
• a destination sent from your phone is accepted, but the car never applies it.

That last point is the most misleading: no message says navigation is unavailable. The car accepts the request, then does nothing.

Why: maps follow the region of sale

A Tesla receives the navigation data of the region where it was first sold, and keeps it when it moves to another territory. A car delivered in mainland France carries the European maps, and those maps don’t cover the island it drives on today.

Only Tesla can change a car’s region. Without a service center nearby, this rarely gets anywhere: a driver from Réunion who wrote to us went through it, and Tesla confirmed that his car was in a “grey zone”.

How to check on your car

1. On the Tesla screen, open Controls > Software.
2. Look at the “Navigation Data” line: it shows the region of the maps, for example “EU-2026.8” for Europe.
3. Try entering a destination in the car’s navigation. If the arrow stays gray, your Tesla is affected.

Premium Connectivity makes no difference: the car from Réunion that wrote to us had it, and its navigation stayed blocked.

The solution: iCar calculates the route for the car

iCar is the home screen that opens in your Tesla’s web browser. That browser knows your position, even where Tesla’s navigation is blocked. Since October 2026, iCar uses it to calculate the route itself, on its own servers, from OpenStreetMap data, and guides you on the car’s screen:

• the route drawn on the map, which follows the car in 3D;
• the next maneuver at the top of the screen: the arrow, the distance that counts down as you drive, the instruction, and the maneuver after it;
• the destination in the same banner, with the remaining distance and the arrival time;
• a new route if you leave the planned one, and your arrival detected when you reach the destination.

Guidance is shown on screen, without voice instructions for now.

How to turn it on

1. Open geticar.com/app in your Tesla’s web browser, and link the screen to your account from the iCar app on your phone.
2. On the car’s screen, go to Settings > Dashboard, section Map and navigation, then Route calculation: choose Native instead of Tesla.
3. Open the map, search for a destination and tap Go there: the route appears and guidance starts.

If the screen doesn’t change right away, reload the page in the Tesla’s browser: it sometimes keeps an older version in memory.

Route calculation is part of the iCar subscription, with a 14-day free trial.

Covered territories

iCar’s route calculation currently covers the nine outermost regions of the European Union:

• Réunion;
• Martinique;
• Guadeloupe;
• French Guiana;
• Mayotte;
• Saint Martin and Saint Barthélemy;
• the Azores;
• Madeira;
• the Canary Islands.

Outside these territories, iCar hands over to Tesla’s navigation. Is your Tesla driving in another country where navigation is blocked? Write to us: we add new territories on request.

What else iCar brings overseas

• Speed camera zones announced in Réunion, Martinique and Guadeloupe, in a banner with the distance counting down and a sound alert.
• Landmarks announced along the way, with their story.
• Your trips and charging sessions recorded automatically, battery health and Sentry Mode alerts on your phone: these features go through the car’s own connection, and work everywhere.

Frequently asked questions

Can my imported Tesla get Tesla navigation back?

Only Tesla can change a car’s map region. Where it has no service center, this rarely gets anywhere.

Does iCar replace Tesla navigation?

It complements it. With the Native option, the route is calculated and shown by iCar on the car’s screen. Outside the covered territories, Tesla’s navigation is used.

Do I need Premium Connectivity?

No. iCar only needs internet access: Premium Connectivity, Wi-Fi or your phone’s hotspot all work.

What happens to my position?

Your position is used to calculate the route, and nothing is kept: not the starting point, the destination, or the route.

Key takeaways

• In a grey market, an imported Tesla keeps the maps of the region where it was sold, and its navigation stays blocked with no error message.
• The “Navigation Data” line in the Software menu tells you which region your maps come from.
• iCar calculates the route for the car and guides you on its screen, in the nine outermost regions of the European Union.

To try it, open geticar.com/app in your Tesla’s web browser: nothing to install in the car, and guidance turns on in three taps.