Trip Planner

[Crafty42]

Little confused about the trip planner. Planning a ~400 mile round trip. It's about 3 hours out and 3 hours back. Trip planner shows if I leave with 100% battery, I can drive for 102 miles in 1h45m, then charge for 22m from 50% to 90%. Then back on the road for 99 miles in 1h34m arriving with 40% battery. Return trip shows I drive for 22m, 19 miles and charge for 22 min from 31% to 72%. Back on the raad for 83 miles in 1h20m and charge again for 22m from 31% to 71%, drive the remaining 102 miles in 1h48m. But the time at the top shows total trip time as 8h57m with a total charge time of 2h8m. How does 3x22=66m turn into 2h8m of charge time?

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[hybrid2bev]

Always use A Better Route Planner and PlugShare to validate trip planning.

 

[kdonnel]

I find the Ford navigation and ABRP to both be very pessimistic on range estimates.

On a recent trip Ford wanted me to stop and charge when the car was actually at 60%. ABRP predicted an arrival state of charge of 12%, I arrived at 36%.

I have found I don’t need to charge as often or for as long as either predicts.

 

[Crafty42]

Why are the reviews for ABRP so bad?

 

[hybrid2bev]

Why are the reviews for ABRP so bad?

I think people maybe don’t know how to properly adjust the settings in ABRP to match the weather conditions, battery degradation, max speed etc. and settings for miles per kWh to match their driving style. I find ABRP to be very accurate.

 

[Space_Pony]

Why are the reviews for ABRP so bad?

I haven't used ABRP for a while. I couldn't figure out how to see the prices. There is a local dealer here with a DCFC that charges $2.20/kwh because they apparently don't want it used publicly. I don't want to be surprised by some price gouger, so if they can't provide prices I'll just use Plugshare and Ford.
It would be nice if Plugshare would filter by prices but that would make too much sense.

 

[RickMachE]

I find the Ford navigation and ABRP to both be very pessimistic on range estimates.

On a recent trip Ford wanted me to stop and charge when the car was actually at 60%. ABRP predicted an arrival state of charge of 12%, I arrived at 36%.

I have found I don’t need to charge as often or for as long as either predicts.

I use the free version. There are various settings you can select, in addition to your vehicle. The first changes I made were after realizing that it was too pessimistic for my driving, and that it was assuming I was driving the speed limit vs 3 to 5 miles above. Tweak the efficiency number closer to reality.

I then realized that even the free version adjusts for seasons. Put a trip in for July 1. Then, change the date to Feb 1. You will see the range drop.

There are settings for weight you loaded (4 people vs 1?), battery degradation, and more. I haven't played with the Mach-E settings in a while, but I have the Lightning settings pretty solid.

In reality, so what if it says 36% instead of 12%? I have my trip laid out, with 3 to 4 stops each day. I know where every EA is, and now also Tesla (very rarely do I use any other chargers on a trip). I know that the plan is top stop at those specific locations. I have adjusted the trip for things like price (after checking every stop in PlugShare) and quality (avoiding crappy locations).

Why are the reviews for ABRP so bad?

People aren't able to plan effectively and need to be spoonfed?

I think people maybe don’t know how to properly adjust the settings in ABRP to match the weather conditions, battery degradation, max speed etc. and settings for miles per kWh to match their driving style. I find ABRP to be very accurate.

Agree.

I haven't used ABRP for a while. I couldn't figure out how to see the prices. There is a local dealer here with a DCFC that charges $2.20/kwh because they apparently don't want it used publicly. I don't want to be surprised by some price gouger, so if they can't provide prices I'll just use Plugshare and Ford.
It would be nice if Plugshare would filter by prices but that would make too much sense.

It doesn't show prices, at least in the free version. Look up prices and quality in PlugShare, then VERIFY prices in EA, Tesla, etc. PlugShare is wrong maybe 20% of the time. It can also be edited, so I make corrections.

Location south of us was very expensive in 2021, 2022. At some point they dropped prices. They are now competitive and cheaper than the other options I would hit if I cannot make it home when on a southern trip. Found that out by accident when the new Pilot/GM charger failed on New Year's Eve due to the EVGo network being down (EVGo manages the network for them) and I was nearly stranded.

 

[kdonnel]

I use the free version. There are various settings you can select, in addition to your vehicle. The first changes I made were after realizing that it was too pessimistic for my driving, and that it was assuming I was driving the speed limit vs 3 to 5 miles above. Tweak the efficiency number closer to reality.

I then realized that even the free version adjusts for seasons. Put a trip in for July 1. Then, change the date to Feb 1. You will see the range drop.

There are settings for weight you loaded (4 people vs 1?), battery degradation, and more. I haven't played with the Mach-E settings in a while, but I have the Lightning settings pretty solid.

In reality, so what if it says 36% instead of 12%? I have my trip laid out, with 3 to 4 stops each day. I know where every EA is, and now also Tesla (very rarely do I use any other chargers on a trip). I know that the plan is top stop at those specific locations. I have adjusted the trip for things like price (after checking every stop in PlugShare) and quality (avoiding crappy locations).

I have played around with the settings and have to radically change to reference consumption to get it to match what actually happened after a trip.

That is fine when I know about what to expect. I know from past trips I average around 325 Wh/mi. On a trip this past weekend I averaged 270 Wh/mi. I had never driven that route before and had no idea my efficiency would be so different.

I still use it to get an idea where I might need/want to charge but have found Apple Maps to be much more accurate in predicting optimal charging locations and length of time.

For most trips Apple Maps ends the trip + or - 1 or 2 percentage from the original projection.

 

[RickMachE]

I have no Apple products, so can't comment on that.

If the weather is normal for that time of year (temps), and it isn't raining, and there is no wind, I find it slightly pessimistic. You can move the slider during your trip to make it more accurate.

I have the truck fine-tuned more than the Mach-E at this point.

 

[milepost1]

Ford nav could be improved for sure. Being able to use charge assist while driving. Being able to change some parameters. Would also like to know how it picks charge stations.

 

[Opa]

I just wish that Ford would stop riding half ass apps, and just turn all of that over to Google and Apple for android and iPhone-after all they’re the pros, Ford you just build cars and let the software superpowers fuel your infotainment & nav systems

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