Best site to use for planning a trip?

[WildBillTV]

I know of ABRP, but apparently I am too stupid to use it. My destination is going to be 215 miles and 3 hours and 40 minutes of driving. I have an ER premium ME so I should be able to make that trip without having to stop and charge. My issue or what I can't figure out is where/how to charge once I arrive at my destination. It is in the middle of nowhere so I can't seem to find any charging stations around and I have no idea how to tell ARBP that my battery percent will be like 10% when I leave for it to try and add a charger on my way home.

Can someone who has taken a long distance trip before please share what sites that utilized?

Thanks,
Bill

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[Doug&Julie]

You can "add waypoint" on ABRP to make it a round trip, that should help. Another option is to use PlugShare and just scroll along your route and see if anything is available. I suppose it's possible (sadly) that there are no fast charging options on your trip?

 

[alexgorod]

If you create a trip like "Home - Destination - Home" in ABRP, and set the level of battery at arrival to a 5%-10% level, it should show you where to charge on the way back.

 

[WildBillTV]

You can "add waypoint" on ABRP to make it a round trip, that should help. Another option is to use PlugShare and just scroll along your route and see if anything is available. I suppose it's possible (sadly) that there are no fast charging options on your trip?

I am going from Pittsburgh to Lewisburg PA. It looks like there is an EA station a little over halfway that I could probably stop at. I used PlugShare to find the route. That seems to be the only fast charging station along my route (once I get outside of Pittsburgh). Unless I am looking at this wrong lol I have never taken a road trip in my ME and have only done at home charging. So this is all new to me still.

 

[RickMachE]

None of the applications are going to tell a vehicle with range over 215 miles to charge when you leave with 100% charge.

However, you're going to arrive at the destination with about 15-20% charge. If you put that into ABRP with 15% at the start, and a 215 mile drive, it will show you where to charge. Or, you can try the roundtrip idea mentioned above.

You can see high speed EA chargers in their app or at www.electrifyamerica.com. You can see high speed chargers on Plugshare by setting the car up, then setting the slider to 50kW or higher.

 

[RickMachE]

Now that we know your trip, ABRP works just fine. It shows you leaving with 100% charge, stopping in State College to charge, and then arriving in Lewisburg with 29%.

Given that you want to make it back to State College, you then would add a waypoint and drag it down to be under the Lewisburg stop, and put in Pittsburgh.

Now, you stop and charge to 61% in State College, arrive in Lewisburg with 43%, and turn around and stop in State College again, arriving with 21% and charging to 70%, arriving in Pittsburgh with 20%. If you want to drive around a bunch in Lewisburg, simply charge to 80% in State College on the way there, and then charge to 61% on the way back to arrive with 20%. Or, on the way back, charge to 51% and arrive with 10% at home and save a bit.

 

[WildBillTV]

Now that we know your trip, ABRP works just fine. It shows you leaving with 100% charge, stopping in State College to charge, and then arriving in Lewisburg with 29%.

Given that you want to make it back to State College, you then would add a waypoint and drag it down to be under the Lewisburg stop, and put in Pittsburgh.

Now, you stop and charge to 61% in State College, arrive in Lewisburg with 43%, and turn around and stop in State College again, arriving with 21% and charging to 70%, arriving in Pittsburgh with 20%. If you want to drive around a bunch in Lewisburg, simply charge to 80% in State College on the way there, and then charge to 61% on the way back to arrive with 20%. Or, on the way back, charge to 51% and arrive with 10% at home and save a bit.

You are amazing! Thank you for taking the time to put that in and explain to me!!

 

[RickMachE]

You are amazing! Thank you for taking the time to put that in and explain to me!!

No problem, glad to help.

 

[Doug&Julie]

FWIW Julie and I just went on a 1622 mile road trip and, despite what ABRP was suggesting, we always charged to 80%...it's was just a few minutes more and gave us the extra peace of mind.

 

[RickMachE]

FWIW Julie and I just went on a 1622 mile road trip and, despite what ABRP was suggesting, we always charged to 80%...it's was just a few minutes more and gave us the extra peace of mind.

When time doesn't matter, that's a fine strategy, with the exception that if you're going to be traveling in the states where EA charges by the minute, pushing more charging into those states can save money.

 

[Doug&Julie]

When time doesn't matter, that's a fine strategy, with the exception that if you're going to be traveling in the states where EA charges by the minute, pushing more charging into those states can save money.

Oh great point about charging by the minute...

Fun fact - on our trip all EA charging was per the kWh, but our one stop in Klamath Falls was a slow (62.5 kw) ChargePoint that charged by the minute. But weirdly it was also the cheapest (well, except we had a few free charges as we still had kWh left from our Ford deal). For 47 minutes of charging, it was only $11.70.

Less fun fact - we walked around Klamath Falls and found someplace to get breakfast, so that 47 minutes didn't feel that long.

 

[WildBillTV]

I still have my 250 free kWh from ford when I bought the car. I've never used a public charger before. Anything I should know before hand so I can use the free charging?

 

[RickMachE]

I still have my 250 free kWh from ford when I bought the car. I've never used a public charger before. Anything I should know before hand so I can use the free charging?

Posted many times.

If you want to use Plug and Charge, make sure you have it setup and turned on in the FordPass app. You set it up on Ford.com, then turn it on in the app. Or, you can simply pick the charger in the FordPass app and swipe.

If you're trying to maximize your free hours, don't use them in the handful of by the minute EA states.

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