The TESla API: So many possiblities!

Sometimes technology utterly stuns me.  The first time I downloaded an album from the comfort of my couch is one instance.  Receiving a phone call in the car for the first time is another.  The most recent example:  A car having an API and what can be done as a result.

The first few hours of learning to use the Tesla API were pretty frustrating.  My "Hello World" program was a few lines of code to honk the horn.  After an hour or two I got it to work:
Wife:  "What was that?"
Me:  "That was the sound of Python talking to the car!"

A program talking to a car was the first stunning event.  The second came when I used a simple "Get Status" command and saw what was returned.  Listing all of the information here would make this post too long.  But examples of available car data include:  GPS coordinates, battery charge level, odometer reading, cabin temperature, status of each of the 5 seat heaters, is someone sitting in the driver seat....and on...and on...and on.  

The final stunning event:  The Tesla is connected to the internet all the time.  So getting this data, as well as the ability to control various car functions, can be performed wherever the car is.  Before learning the detailed capabilities of the API I figured, when checking if the car was home, I'd attempt a ping on the local network.  But instead Suncatcher checks the car's GPS coordinates to determine if it's in the garage or not.  

• Your car gets stolen?  Track where it is.  Start honking the horn and flashing the lights.
• Don't like the charging control offered in the Tesla app?  Write a program to do what you want.
• Want more flexibility in scheduling when the cabin warms up or cools down prior to departure?  Write a program to control it the way you want.
• Want reminders of tasks you want to do at certain mileages?  Write a program to check the odometer and alert you when it reaches a specific value.

Amazing!
​
​Jim

For those interested in learning more I'm using TeslaPy:                                                   ​https://github.com/tdorssers/TeslaPy