Mach-E Misinformation?

[Murse-In-Airy]

This weekend I did a road trip that was nearly 400 miles for the first time. The route that was provided by the built-in nav on my departure was perfect, this required 2 stops to charge. However, on the return the route wasn't what I expected, although it technically would have worked, this required 3 stops to charge.

I too ran into charging issues on 5 of 7 charging attempts on this trip. Most of my issues were due down stations, units not authenticating to start charging, or extremely slow charging speed (15kw on a 150kw or 350kw station).

Before my return trip I actually tried out A Better Route Planner (ABRP) for the first time. After I configured the app, then compared the results to the Built-in nav, I liked the options it provided much better. I decided to use the route provided by ABRP instead on my return. I was floored by how accurate the results were. My SOC when I reached the first charging station was spot on.

That said, I stand corrected, ABRP is anything but "nonsense" as I originally stated. It really is a impressive tool that I would use again. One word of caution, make sure you manually adjust your mi/kwh in the setting for what you are actually getting. The default values might be too high, especially if you run the heat, drive in very cold weather, or just drive too fast .

My takeaways:

1. The built-in nav is fine for trips that only require 1 (maybe 2) stops. The route options when 2 or more stops are needed can be a bit odd. Use ABRP if you have multiple stops.
2. If you're traveling to more remote areas always check Plug Share to help minimize to chance of going to a bad charge station. Even when I did this I still nearly got stuck due to multiple stations being down for repairs, or just not working.
3. Try and stick to routes that provide more charging station options whenever reasonably possible. Due to #2 you never know when you need take a detour to another charge station.

Going forward I plan to avoid taking any trips that require more than 1 stop to charge (or about 200 miles one way). With the roulette wheel of potential issues with charging stations, the hassle with delays and detours is not worth it for me. This longer trip was a great learning experience for me and made me consider things I hadn't before. Lesson learned.

When you configured ABRP, did you also adjust the settings for speed % above posted limit and the temperature in the road conditions settings?
I ask because I’ve had better luck leaving the default miles/kwh at the 2.73 default. Then adjusting all the other parameters. When I changed the miles/kwh it went wonky on me and wanted me to charge all the time. So I’m wondering what you and I did differently and which would be easier/ more accurate.

Sponsored

 

[Maquis]

I honestly don’t know anyone who plans their route in an ICE based on fuel prices or gas station locations. The closest to that was “better refuel in Georgia because gas is cheaper,” so you stop literally anywhere before leaving the state. No research necessary.

I actually know quite a few people who use the Gasbuddy app every time they refuel. Others don’t care at all.

 

[RickMachE]

I actually know quite a few people who use the Gasbuddy app every time they refuel. Others don’t care at all.

We use GasBuddy to plan our trips, down to the gas station. The heat map tells you where lower costs are, so you can fill up in a cheaper area and save some money. Even in a higher cost area, it's invaluable to save money.

For those too lazy to use it, or who don't care how much money they spend, that's great for them. I don't treat money as growing on trees. We have a Shell station near us, people always filling up. It's always more expensive.

Right now in my area, GasBuddy shows rates ranging from a low of $3.79 to a high of $4.49, a spread of 18.5%. Why anyone would want to spend ~20% more on gasoline if they didn't have to is beyond me. Then again, some people spend money like it's water. On a recent trip of 2,400 miles roundtrip, we used about 130 gallons of gas. Saving $0.30 a gallon would be $39. That's 5 nice craft beers. Or 2 beers with burgers.

 

[Maquis]

Saving $0.30 a gallon would be $39. That's 5 nice craft beers. Or 2 beers with burgers.

Or a decent bottle of bourbon! I picked up a bottle of Wild Turkey Rare Breed just this morning for $38.

 

[HuntingPudel]

I’m actually looking at PlugShare and the EA app to plan a trip up the West Coast some time in the future. Kind of interesting reading comments about out of service and slow chargers. ??‍?

 

[Jppumper]

[

Thanks for the info, we have yet to go on a long trip. My wife is from South Georgia and it's dicey trying to find chargers in Waycross.

 

[Eraser]

When you configured ABRP, did you also adjust the settings for speed % above posted limit and the temperature in the road conditions settings?
I ask because I’ve had better luck leaving the default miles/kwh at the 2.73 default. Then adjusting all the other parameters. When I changed the miles/kwh it went wonky on me and wanted me to charge all the time. So I’m wondering what you and I did differently and which would be easier/ more accurate.

In the advanced settings I only adjusted mi/kwh under reference consumption. Since I started from 100% I left the default SoC at 100% as well.

For whatever reason the default mi/kwh was set to 3.1x. In the summer that is about right for me, but in the winter months I'm usually around 2.4-2.6 mi/kwh. It setting states mi/kwh at 65 mph, unless there is traffic, I'm never going that speed. I'm usually between 70-80 mph. Leaving the speed adjustment at 100% of the posted speed limit, but adjusting my mi/kwh worked perfectly for me. I suppose your accuracy will vary based on how you typically drive. My thought was, if I just adjust the typical mi/kwh I'm getting, I don't need to worry about the speed variable since that is already factored in to the mi/kwh the car is reporting. I hope that helps.

UPDATE:
This post has VERY detailed directions on using ABRP. I think my approach still hold true if you have enough real world driving data to know your mi/kwh. If not, using the approach outlined in the detailed guide would be a good start. Regardless, the results of the adjustments made in the settings are only as good as the data you provide. When in doubt be a bit conservative.

 

[Maquis]

In the advanced settings I only adjusted mi/kwh under reference consumption. Since I started from 100% I left the default SoC at 100% as well.

For whatever reason the default mi/kwh was set to 3.1x. In the summer that is about right for me, but in the winter months I'm usually around 2.4-2.6 mi/kwh. It setting states mi/kwh at 65 mph, unless there is traffic, I'm never going that speed. I'm usually between 70-80 mph. Leaving the speed adjustment at 100% of the posted speed limit, but adjusting my mi/kwh worked perfectly for me. I suppose your accuracy will vary based on how you typically drive. My thought was, if I just adjust the typical mi/kwh I'm getting, I don't need to worry about the speed variable since that is already factored in to the mi/kwh the car is reporting. I hope that helps.

3.1 M/kWh exactly matches the EPA rating of the AWD MME.

 

[Murse-In-Airy]

In the advanced settings I only adjusted mi/kwh under reference consumption. Since I started from 100% I left the default SoC at 100% as well.

For whatever reason the default mi/kwh was set to 3.1x. In the summer that is about right for me, but in the winter months I'm usually around 2.4-2.6 mi/kwh. It setting states mi/kwh at 65 mph, unless there is traffic, I'm never going that speed. I'm usually between 70-80 mph. Leaving the speed adjustment at 100% of the posted speed limit, but adjusting my mi/kwh worked perfectly for me. I suppose your accuracy will vary based on how you typically drive. My thought was, if I just adjust the typical mi/kwh I'm getting, I don't need to worry about the speed variable since that is already factored in to the mi/kwh the car is reporting. I hope that helps.

UPDATE:
This post has VERY detailed directions on using ABRP. I think my approach still hold true if you have enough real world driving data to know your mi/kwh. If not, using the approach outlined in the detailed guide would be a good start. Regardless, the results of the adjustments made in the settings are only as good as the data you provide. When in doubt be a bit conservative.

Ok. I find that the preset reference for my AWD premium ER of 2.98 is very accurate as long as I also set the temp and extra weight as well. ABRP seems to be able to account for those variables. Rather than me having to remember what miles/kwh are for different scenarios. I’ll see how it does for my GT which shows a reference efficiency of 2.73. I’m a little concerned that it doesn’t differentiate between GT and GTPE.

Sponsored