Google Maps really this much better than built-in Nav?

[SteveMach-ee]

As far as I can tell, you need to buy an OBD2 dongle and monitor the battery temperature to know if you are preconditioning. More specifically: the car does not tell you whether you are preconditioning on any of its screens or displays, as far as I know.

Also, when navigating to a charger on google/android, a charger icon with a lightning bolt shows up in the left side "range display area" of the instrument cluster. Then 15 or 20 minutes before getting to the charger location, if it needs to precondition, you can hear the preconditioning pump start to gurgle. Probably won't hear it if the A/C is running though.

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[kodiakng]

i've used ABRP, google maps, and the built-in car nav a lot over the last 2+ years with my mach-e and definitely keep coming back to google maps, especially now that there is android auto integration. the android auto integration for SoC works very well and i've found it to be consistently very good on accurate arrival SoC at all stops. the only trouble time lately was during a long stretch of severe headwind that killed my efficiency but i don't see any available apps factoring that anomaly in currently; google maps and ABRP both adjust estimates down en route but it gets uncomfortable on a route with few options so you just have to take the hit in travel time.

my local terrain is quite varied in elevation gain/loss (4,000-6,000' on the regular) , long flat & windy, and also fun engaging hill climbs and both google maps and ABRP do a good job in their estimates; i've found google to be better overall though. the built-in nav needs to be taken out back and buried deep but ford appears to have just left it to rot in the field and i only notice it when it zombies up a destination suggestion and decides to navigate to it in the background.

i used the ABRP OBD integration as well as their android auto SoC integration for a while and they do work well. my main issue is the extra battery drain on my phone (pixel 7) and the fact they only work with BLE OBD adapters - i'm just not a fan of having an unsecured BLE entry to my car's CAN bus and swapping my usual MX+ (non-BLE) to a CX (BLE) just for a trip never quite gets into my routine.

the main feature i like about ABRP is that you can adjust charger arrival SoC (i usually use 5-8% when i'm comfortable with the variety/availability of chargers along the route) during a trip and a separate destination arrival SoC. setting a separate destination arrival SoC is nice when visiting some place and want to arrive with enough charge so i don't have to immediately go hunting.

google maps keeps improving their UX to close some of the feature gap with ABRP: you can select which charging networks you want to use ("EV payment filters"), the charger charging rate minimums to use for selections (50kW+, 150kW+, 350kW+), and "open now" (although this option seems to default to off, wish they'd flip that since it's the opposite of what i need when i'm driving a route now). ABRP has had similar features for a long time so google is just catching up in this regard.

on my trip last weekend (7 hrs each way), i noticed google maps had refined the "replace charger" option. once i set the destination and i had it choose chargers for the route i just tapped the "Route details" list (location pin) and it let me swap a charger out and only list those in the same range and along the route as the original selection; very easy and gives you an idea of your estimated arrival charge level for each. i needed it badly at one point since the station it chose originally was full by the time i got near and i needed to reroute far enough ahead of time so i didn't need to backtrack.

google also kinda added in a destination arrival SoC but it isn't as refined as ABRP. i expect it will improve over time. i'd like them to add a charger arrival SoC too but expect that isn't in their near term feature list.

in any case, i'll keep using both ABRP and google maps but find myself on google maps exclusively for shorter trips and most of my longer trips. if ABRP would use my non-BLE OBD adapter i'd probably use it more often but then i'd also need to subscribe again - too much friction at this point so it stays in second class.

plugshare and each network's apps are also invaluable for station data: plugshare for timely user ratings and reviews of stations, network apps for current utilization and pricing, etc.

 

[benk016]

If you are navigating to a charger, it displays the charger icon (whether it is preconditioning or not...)

If it shows the charger icon, the car knows it's a charger and can precondition if needed. Google maps on Android auto actually sends the data to the car that it's a charger. Any other app does not send that data, and charger will show up as just a flag destination and never precondition.

A glitch with this is if you set your destination as a charger in Google maps, then switch to ABRP for example without canceling your route in Google maps, every destination in ABRP you route to will still have the DCFC set from the Google maps route and won't override it so it turns every destination into a charger with potential preconditioning.

 

[Billyk24]

Also, when navigating to a charger on google/android, a charger icon with a lightning bolt shows up in the left side "range display area" of the instrument cluster. Then 15 or 20 minutes before getting to the charger location, if it needs to precondition, you can hear the preconditioning pump start to gurgle. Probably won't hear it if the A/C is running though.

Pre-conditioning during the warm summer months? Would you believe it does "zero"? My experience with car scanner pro app reveals once the HVB reaches 73/74f there is no more pre-conditioning going on. I have not seen Pre-conditioning "cool" the battery pack either when it is in the low 90s or upper 80's.

 

[AZBill]

Pre-conditioning during the warm summer months? Would you believe it does "zero"? My experience with car scanner pro app reveals once the HVB reaches 73/74f there is no more pre-conditioning going on. I have not seen Pre-conditioning "cool" the battery pack either when it is in the low 90s or upper 80's.

In Phoenix battery temps will easily reach 110F, and for fast charging they need to get down to about 90. My other two EVs do indicate preconditioning on, when the battery is hot. Ford has to be cooling the battery, it is not good to be fast charging with a battery temp above 104F.

 

[Lonesparrow67]

If it shows the charger icon, the car knows it's a charger and can precondition if needed. Google maps on Android auto actually sends the data to the car that it's a charger. Any other app does not send that data, and charger will show up as just a flag destination and never precondition.

Ummm....I never said that it didn't/did, lol???

 

[spicy_taco]

Adding to what was said here. I've taken several long road trips this summer and Google maps has been by far the most accurate in terms of range and final SOC % prediction.

They have somewhat improved the interface for finding chargers now by providing network filters, but it's still buggy. For example, when traveling to LA I stop on I-5 in Kettleman City. There are EA and Tesla stations there. Google Maps will refuse to select the Tesla station until I first select the EA station followed by going through the "replace charger" process.

It also sucks that you can't plan your trip on the phone. At the very least, it could remember the last set of parameters from the EV (I think Apple maps does that?)) as the basis for the trip planning.

 

[Lonesparrow67]

Adding to what was said here. I've taken several long road trips this summer and Google maps has been by far the most accurate in terms of range and final SOC % prediction...

I've noticed the same, on the last 3 trips I've taken the range was very close and the final SOC% was consistently within 1-2% every time......I was actually surprised how accrate it was...

 

[Billyk24]

In Phoenix battery temps will easily reach 110F, and for fast charging they need to get down to about 90. My other two EVs do indicate preconditioning on, when the battery is hot. Ford has to be cooling the battery, it is not good to be fast charging with a battery temp above 104F.

That is true but.........share a photo of the battery pack reaching 110f. Then share photos of the battery pack cooling while driving the last 10 miles towards the dcfc.

 

[AZBill]

That is true but.........share a photo of the battery pack reaching 110f. Then share photos of the battery pack cooling while driving the last 10 miles towards the dcfc.

I can do that in my Rivian and in my Hummer, unfortunately Ford does not provide those indications. But Ford is using the same battery chemistry and I never get derating in hot temps with my MME. Just the other day my Rivian had a battery temp of 106 and 20 minutes later arriving at the charger it was at 96. I can also tell you that Rivian will automatically start the pre-conditioning 1 hour form the charger and GM starts it 45 minutes from the charger.

 

[Billyk24]

I can do that in my Rivian and in my Hummer, unfortunately Ford does not provide those indications. But Ford is using the same battery chemistry and I never get derating in hot temps with my MME. Just the other day my Rivian had a battery temp of 106 and 20 minutes later arriving at the charger it was at 96. I can also tell you that Rivian will automatically start the pre-conditioning 1 hour form the charger and GM starts it 45 minutes from the charger.

Ford is not Rivian. The battery pack is not the same or software allowing the same capabilities. One can read the Ford HVB temperature and what happens to it during very hot summer weather via Car Scanner pro app or likewise as shown in the photo. At this time we have zero photos of such happening from those living in these areas.

 

[Dana3502]

I finally took my Mach-E on a road trip. I was driving support for a bike ride that crossed Iowa through mostly rural areas. So many people on this forum have praised ABRP so I started there. After inputting each overnight town, ABRP literally told me that the trip couldn't be done. Ford Nav is a waste of time. Besides being out of date for road closures, new businesses, etc., it doesn't allow any flexibility. The support route was dictated by event organizers so that we wouldn't follow or cross the path of the 30,000 bicycle riders so I needed flexibility. Google Maps allowed me to click and drag the route to the roads I needed to take. Too bad this feature is only available on my computer and not on the touchscreen in the car. It was great, though, for making my plan ahead of time.

 

[SuperD]

Do you realize Google owns Waze and uses the same crowd sourcing? The only difference is that with Google maps you must be navigating to get the alerts.

Yeah, I know about google owning waze - can't really compare them "side by side" but when I had run waze awhile back I always felt (not exactly scientific, I know) that I got more "alerts" with waze than google maps - curious if google maps includes all the "categories" or only some.

 

[DYohn]

I don't like the way Google and Apple maps appears on the screen via Car Play so I never use them that way. I use the Ford Nav and I pay for it. The only thing I see consistently wrong with it is lack of the Tesla charging network. For my purposes it works just fine and I search for Tesla stations using the Tesla app. I do use Google Maps by picking up the phone to find some businesses that Ford Nav does not seem to know, and then I can manually key them in. Ford voice commands suck big time, of course.

 

[Blitzen]

Does it show a Flag icon or the Charger icon if the designation is a charger?

Just a flag. I don't have connected navigation right now if that matters - the Public Charging app in the car only shows L2 chargers, making it totally useless.

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