Legacy Vehicle Support and Limitations

This FAQ covers Teslemetry's support for older Tesla vehicles, including pre-2021 Model S and Model X, and explains the differences between streaming and polling data collection methods.

General Questions

Can I use Teslemetry with my older Tesla vehicle?

Yes, Teslemetry supports older Tesla vehicles, though the features and data collection methods vary depending on your vehicle's hardware:

• Pre-2021 Model S/X with MCU2: Fully supported with Fleet Telemetry streaming (requires firmware 2025.20 or newer)
• Pre-2021 Model S/X with MCU1: Supported with polling-based data collection only

Streaming vs Polling

What is the difference between streaming and polling?

Streaming (Fleet Telemetry)

• Your vehicle actively pushes data to Teslemetry in real-time
• Does not wake or keep your vehicle awake
• More cost-effective (no expensive API calls required)
• Available on modern vehicles (2021+) and legacy MCU2 vehicles with firmware 2025.20+

Polling

• Teslemetry periodically requests data from your vehicle via Tesla's API
• Teslemetry intelligently identifies when your vehicle is trying to sleep and will pause polling

What is the polling interval for legacy vehicles?

Legacy vehicles (pre-2021 Model S/X with MCU1) have a polling interval of 90 seconds while awake.

Vehicle Sleep

Will polling prevent my legacy vehicle from sleeping?

Frequent API calls can prevent legacy vehicles from entering sleep mode. To address this, Teslemetry implements an intelligent sleep protection system:

1. When your vehicle has been inactive for 15 minutes, Teslemetry pauses polling
2. Polling remains paused for 15 minutes to allow the vehicle to sleep
3. This 15-minute on/off cycle repeats to balance data freshness with sleep protection

Subscriptions and Pricing

Is polling included in my legacy vehicle subscription?

Yes. Legacy vehicles that cannot use Fleet Telemetry have polling included as part of their vehicle subscription at no additional cost.

Enabling Fleet Telemetry on Legacy MCU2 Vehicles

My legacy Model S/X has MCU2. How do I enable streaming?

If you have a pre-2021 Model S or Model X with MCU2:

1. Ensure your vehicle has firmware 2025.20 or newer
2. In your vehicle, navigate to: Settings > Safety > Allow Third-Party App Data Streaming
3. Enable the data streaming option
4. Log in to the Teslemetry console
5. Click the "Telemetry" button on your vehicle
6. Select the fields you want to stream
7. Click "Start / Update Streaming"

Unlike modern vehicles, legacy MCU2 vehicles do not require virtual key installation to use Fleet Telemetry.

Additional Resources

• Vehicle Sleep Documentation
• Telemetry Configuration Guide
• The Road Away From Vehicle Polling

Updated on: 01/02/2026