Why does Amber need access to my car's location? Amber uses your car's location for one purpose only: to detect whether your car is at home. We need to know this before we can automatically manage your charging - we'll only start or adjust charging when your car is home and plugged in.
Does Amber store my location or track where I drive? No. Amber does not store your GPS coordinates, record your driving routes, or track your movements. The only thing we store is a simple yes/no flag: is your car currently at home? That's it.
How does it work for Tesla owners? Your Tesla sends location data directly to Amber via Tesla's Fleet Telemetry system, approximately every 60 seconds. We check those coordinates against your registered home address and convert it to a home/away status. The raw GPS data is never stored - only the result.
Note: This feature requires Tesla firmware version 2024.44.32 or later. If you're on an older version, you may need to update your car's software for home detection to work correctly.
How does it work for other EVs (connected via Enode)? For other supported EV brands connected through our Enode integration, the same principle applies in that we receive location data via the Enode API and use it only to determine whether your car is at home. Raw location data is not stored.
What happens if I don't give Amber location access? Without location access, Amber cannot automatically manage your EV charging. The smart charging automation only activates when we can confirm your car is home. You can still use Amber for electricity pricing without enabling Amber for EVs.
What if my car isn't being detected as home even when it is? A few things can cause this:
- Your home address may not be correctly saved in Amber — check that your registered address is up to date
- Tesla owners may need to update their firmware to version 2024.44.32 or later
- Some vehicles may have location sharing disabled in their settings
If none of these apply, get in touch with our support team and we'll look into it.
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