Road Tripping report and LOVING the SYNC 4A navigation system!

[TheVirtualTim]

Let us know if you find any free EA chargers on your trip!

We ultimately did ... our final stop in South Carolina was free.

As an aside... at the prior stop (also in South Carolina ... at a Sheetz) one station was down, but a 2nd had a message indicating that the station was working but at "reduced power" while it undergoes a software update.

We are finally in Florida ... we'll see if more are free. I'll update once we find out.

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[Tampamike]

Here’s my routine.

Start with EA app and look for routes and chargers. If I need to get off the beaten path of EA corridors, I use PlugShare to find alternatives. When I have a plan, I ask the car for a second opinion. Most of the time we are in agreement. Sometimes it picks chargers I hadn’t thought of. Sometimes I merge the two plans together. So far, so good.

One thing I learned when leaving a scheduled stop. When the car’s nav keeps trying to reroute you back to the charger you just left because it didn’t think you arrived exactly on the spot, tap the red “x” to cancel route. It then gives you a menu of options - one of which is to just delete that waypoint. That way you don’t have to dump the whole route and start over.

 

[TheVirtualTim]

One thing I learned when leaving a scheduled stop. When the car’s nav keeps trying to reroute you back to the charger you just left because it didn’t think you arrived exactly on the spot, tap the red “x” to cancel route. It then gives you a menu of options - one of which is to just delete that waypoint. That way you don’t have to dump the whole route and start over.

We encountered that just once. The EA was in a Walmart lot and apparently there used to be a side-road to enter the lot closer to the chargers (the road is still there but blocked off). We had to enter the lot another way and drive back. Because we didn't follow the intended route, it didn't think we had arrived.

 

[Av8tor]

We encountered that just once. The EA was in a Walmart lot and apparently there used to be a side-road to enter the lot closer to the chargers (the road is still there but blocked off). We had to enter the lot another way and drive back. Because we didn't follow the intended route, it didn't think we had arrived.

@TheVirtualTim nice write up. Enjoying your trip virtually on Christmas Day. Thank you!

Cant wait for the built in Nav tips and tricks video. I’m learning everything I can before delivery sometime next year.

 

[Boselka]

Great write up and could not agree more, we got our Premium AWD Ext Range on 10/17 and we have done 4 road trips in it we have already put 7,000 miles on it. We have driven across the country twice already (1,300 mile trip) we now only use the Ford a connected Navigation.

 

[AEtherScythe]

Only used the free ABRP, and no live data. Simple to move slider to match the actual battery SOC, and then do it again when it is off enough to matter.

Never had it be sluggish, but wasn't feeding in real data.

I don't want to fiddle, especially when driving. I was the passenger during all the grief or we wouldn't have managed as well/poorly as we did with ABRP. I'm not giving up on them, but they have a lot of room for improvement.

Meanwhile, the Ford navigation is 99% there already. Would simply like more ability to filter charging network preferences, and also to be able to tap any way-point and adjust the desired arrival SOC. Other than that, the Ford navigation has ABRP beat hands down.

 

[Av8tor]

I don't want to fiddle, especially when driving. I was the passenger during all the grief or we wouldn't have managed as well/poorly as we did with ABRP. I'm not giving up on them, but they have a lot of room for improvement.

Meanwhile, the Ford navigation is 99% there already. Would simply like more ability to filter charging network preferences, and also to be able to tap any way-point and adjust the desired arrival SOC. Other than that, the Ford navigation has ABRP beat hands down.

@TheVirtualTim , @AEtherScythe excellent teamwork. Between the two of you I’ve gained some insights on using both. I know there is an ABRP thread that is working through the Bluetooth ABRP functions, Helping test it and giving feedback to the software engineers.

Link:https://www.macheforum.com/site/threads/new-abrp-feature-live-data-via-obd.12606/

 

[billy_at]

(The Bug/RFE) turn on the 'recirculate' ... unfortunately after something like 5 minutes the car self-reverts to pulling in outside air. This is unfortunately *especially* for an EV with e-heat because taking the already warmed air and just re-warming it a bit is MUCH more energy efficient than pulling in 27° outside air and fully heating it.

Hmm I've experienced this as well. It seems like recirculate only stays on for a short period.

 

[billy_at]

This is a great write-up too. I haven't given the Ford navigation a serious try yet, but it actually sounds pretty good! I didn't realize I could filter for only fast chargers - or replace charger selections I don't want.

 

[Rudy Bega]

We encountered that just once. The EA was in a Walmart lot and apparently there used to be a side-road to enter the lot closer to the chargers (the road is still there but blocked off). We had to enter the lot another way and drive back. Because we didn't follow the intended route, it didn't think we had arrived.

How did it drive? Which model? Appreciate the write-up!!!

 

[TheVirtualTim]

How did it drive? Which model? Appreciate the write-up!!!

The drive is GREAT. It's a First Edition (Premium ER/AWD).

I did notice an issue on Day 3. The car was covered in dew when we departed at 6:30am. It would not let us use lane-guidance. I realized the windshield was dirty and we were driving DIRECTLY in the rising sun with a lot of glare. At the first stop I grabbed a towel to wipe the part of the windshield where the lane camera is located ... and no problems after that.

 

[Woeo]

For the holidays @AEtherScythe and I are headed to Florida (from Michigan). We were *supposed* to go to Washington DC (Lorton,

I decided to try the in-car nav system. Several cool things I learned....

1. You can pre-plan your trips using the FordPass app. Use the 'Maps' tab, pick your destination. After working out your trip if you 'save' it then it will be sent to the car (Which will prompt if you want it to start that trip when you get in the car.)

The car will AUTOMATICALLY add charging stops to your trip (assuming the trip is long enough to need charging). Suppose you don't like the selected stops. I didn't like that it added some EVgo stops ... I'd rather use EA (I still have free charging credits)

(I've made a video demo that I'll upload once we make it to our hotel)

2. In the car, on the Nav screen, tap the Wrench/Screwdriver icon in the lower left corner.


3. Next tap Turn List
4. On the mini turn-list display tap "See All Turns"

There are two taps ... "Trip Overview" and "Turn List" on this panel. In "Trip Overview" will show only the charge stops. The "Turn List" tab will show every turn.

Also, each charge stop listed will show the predicted state of charge at arrival and the minimum amount you'll need to charge to in order to make it to the next charge stop (it doesn't just have you go to 80% every time).

If you want to edit the charge stop, just tap the charge stop (either in Trip Overview or Turn List view). Two new buttons appear in the bottom right ... "Replace" and "Details". "Replace" is awesome.

5. Tap "Replace". If the car is in motion you'll get a warning that the driver shouldn't be doing this. Your passenger will have two buttons "Override" and "Map" (tap Map returns to the Nav screen).
6. Have the passenger tap "Override".

You will get a map with numbered icons on the right ... and a list on the left with the NAME and ADDRESS of every other charger in the area.

The upper right corner of that list has an icon you can tap to apply filters (e.g. Fast chargers only ... or "No Cost" or in "Ford Network")

This was SO MUCH BETTER than the ABRP experience ... which had horribly accuracy and was difficult to edit. ABRP will let you set some charge network preferences ... I could tell it to "prefer" a network and "prefer to avoid" or "avoid" a charge network. But I couldn't just tap a charge stop and edit it like I can on the built-in system.

Unless ABRP adds a lot of improvements ... I think I'll be using the in-car trip planning.

Using myTrips in the onboard Nav one can plan multi waypoint adventures. Set destination for Lorton, add a waypoint for Raleigh, add another for Atlanta, add another for Orlando, then set one for Home. Touch and drag to change the order. Adds the chargers it thinks are best. Filter as you mentioned. Replace the ones you don’t agree with.

 

[silverelan]

Hmm I've experienced this as well. It seems like recirculate only stays on for a short period.

Same. Recirculate turns itself off after a few minutes. It also doesn't stay on every time I turn on the car. It's annoying because I'm trying to keep the cabin warm. If this was still using physical controls, it wouldn't be happening.

 

[67 Stang Convertible]

Seems silly to turn off the Recirculate air feature (especially in the winter). Hey #Ford, how about once a month of so you provide us with one of your engineers to ask questions or give feedback to in regards to these quirks? Promise we won't let anyone ask why the range starting dropping in the Fall/Winter!!!

 

[67 Stang Convertible]

Using myTrips in the onboard Nav one can plan multi waypoint adventures. Set destination for Lorton, add a waypoint for Raleigh, add another for Atlanta, add another for Orlando, then set one for Home. Touch and drag to change the order. Adds the chargers it thinks are best. Filter as you mentioned. Replace the ones you don’t agree with.

Really appreciate the video. We need to work on a voice over for it. Something funny like Musk or Mr. T. (LOL)

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