PlugShare and charging times

[Old_Norm]

I've look closely at the PlugShare app and I can't find anything relating to charging times. Am I missing it? Or doesn't PlugShare calculate charging time?

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[AngryMan]

There is a stand alone app called EV Charging Time Calculator that does what you want . It doesn't really answer your question but its all I got .

 

[RickMachE]

I've look closely at the PlugShare app and I can't find anything relating to charging times. Am I missing it? Or doesn't PlugShare calculate charging time?

No, it doesn't. PlugShare allows you to look up the status of a charging site, both when planning and during a trip. It's trip planning pales in comparison to ABRP.

If you want to plan your trip, use ABRP (A Better Route Planner). It allows you to enter the vehicle, tweak the settings, and it projects charging times.

 

[DadzBoyz]

ABRP (A Better Route Planner) does this as well.
It's a a very comprehensive app, and there is a free version and a "Premium" version.
Premium adds:

"Premium features such as real-time charger status, CarPlay or Android Auto support are accessible by subscribing to ABRP Premium."
​

Those aren't the only things. More Premium details are here:

https://abetterrouteplanner.com/premium/​

Currently (Sept. 13, 2023), Premium is $5/month or $50/year. If you do a lot of roadtrips in your MME or other BEV, I would think the $50/year would be worth it. If not, $5 for the months that you do travel is also worth it.

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I don't have anything to do with any of these companies. Just trying to help.

 

[kdonnel]

I have found ABRP is very cautious in its default settings for the MME. Must be my driving style. I will plan my journey with it and the prediction will be to arrive at a charger at 36% but I get there at 46%. Sometimes I have seen it be as much as 20% off, always on the conservative side.

I have found Apple Maps to be very accurate. It is usually only off 1-3% from the original estimate for arrival charge, in this case usually the opposite of ABRP in that I arrive with less than the originally predicted charge.

I still use a combination of ABRP and Plugshare to pick my way points but then enter them in Apple Maps for routing and for real time arrival percentage estimates.

 

[Shayne]

I've look closely at the PlugShare app and I can't find anything relating to charging times. Am I missing it? Or doesn't PlugShare calculate charging time?

Plugshare gives you the KW's of the charger after that it is easy to do. Mine averages around 90 KW max on any charger that can supply that. 50 KW chargers average 45 KW.

90 KW battery capacity x percentage to charge / Charger average speed = Time

So 10 to 80% on a 150 KW+ charger would be 90 x 0.7 /90 = 0.7 hours (42 minutes) as Ford claims.

EDIT: Plugshare also gives you check ins from users. If you read a couple of those some give the max charging speed they got while charging that should give you a feel if the charger is working right.

 

[Murse-In-Airy]

Battery charging times have way too many variables for any app to predict how long it will take. This is dependent on what speed, and brand the charger is and whether it is working correctly (this plugshare usually knows if the last person to use that charger has checked in and answered the questions). But equally important are what car you‘re driving, what software version you’re on, what the ambient temperature is, what your battery temperature is, what percentage you’d like to stop charging, and MOST IMPORTANTLY what state of charge you‘re starting at.

I’ll expand a bit. If I’m trying to charge from 10-50%, on a 350KW charger, and it’s warm enough, I may pull 165KW for a few minutes then settle in around 130KW speed. So I may reach my 50% in about 15 minutes. But if I’m trying to charge from 40-80% and it’s not that warm and I’m at a 150KW charger, I will probably start at 90KW and average around 70 so adding 40% battery may take as much as 30 minutes.

ABRP has the ability/ options for you to pay for premium and it will look at temperature and you can enter your state of charge at the beginning of your trip. You can try to tweak settings like battery degradation, efficiency coefficient, average speed above posted limits, etc. but even with all that, I find it overly conservative, trying to tell you to stop and charge way more than you need to.

 

[AZBill]

The Ford Trip Planner and Apple Maps will give you a target SoC for that particular charge stop, to get you to the next stop. That is much more useful and is independent of all the other factors that affect charging rates.

Plugshare is very useful for checking reliability of the chargers. In my experience ABRP is way off for all three EVs that I have had.

 

[Shayne]

Battery charging times have way too many variables for any app to predict how long it will take. This is dependent on what speed, and brand the charger is and whether it is working correctly (this plugshare usually knows if the last person to use that charger has checked in and answered the questions). But equally important are what car you‘re driving, what software version you’re on, what the ambient temperature is, what your battery temperature is, what percentage you’d like to stop charging, and MOST IMPORTANTLY what state of charge you‘re starting at.

Even with the fluctuations on charging speeds the calc will give you a fairly accurate ballpark. Look at what it is drawing while charging will help and the IPC tells you when it will hit 80%. Consumption (range) has the same variables to a greater degree. Determining what to charge it to is the question that saves me time. Heavy rain, wind etc. can make a difference and change a plan. Consumption is noticeably higher coming back as it is up hill and normally into the wind. In good weather bit of a tail wind slight elevation lose there I am doing 200 miles on 82% first leg; pretty dare good. Chargers are popping up so I have more options for a change in plans. Getting easier up here charging. Then those new ones will get crowded . Need to charge and +/- 10 minutes will not be the end of the trip for me. But if I can find over 50 KW chargers I will. I have one 150 KW CCS in the big city and magic docks outside now. ? Will be sharping the pencil on percentage to charge to charging on the Tesla'$.

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