Why do they have to make this app so damn cryptic and difficult?!!!!! Can't find saved routes, can't find anything either on phone or the computer. Trying to get my trip to MN planned with a couple variations and damn app just confounds me every step of the way. HATE HATE HATE it!
I'm officially disgusted with ABRP
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LMichaels
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Great point!
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Yeah, it's REALLY difficult. However, I've started getting a bit more "acclimated" to it. And now as it's learning my car with that BT interface it's actually getting much more predictive. In a few weeks I'm going to be taking my car downstate IL about 300 miles round trip. I'll see how it acts on that. Plus may be doing another trip to the Twin Cities to get my old guitar outta the "hospital".
I'd think just one stop would each way would be more than enough for a 300 mile round trip. I used it last August on a 500 mile each way trip and it worked, kind of. It was the bad chargers-lousy infrastructure that spoiled the trip. A year later should be more robust.
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IDK, when we went to MSP, it accurately reported chargers in use and out of order. Beside, I will either use Rivian network or Tesla's network and they're very reliable. To me as well the GUI on Plug Share is as bad or worse than ABRP
Post (not the exact address) of where you're starting and ending, whether you have a Tesla adapter, whether you're stopping anywhere overnight, and, if you're doing a round trip, if you can charge at your destination (or at a nearby Level 2) long enough to get to 100%. Someone will probably lay out a plan for you.
There are a couple of tricks, like using Guidepoints to take a specific route, customizing Waypoints, especially with charge "till" and charge "for", starting with 100%, charging overnight on Level 2 at a hotel, etc. I'm not saying it's not flaky at times, but once you get the hang of it, it's a great tool.
Thanks very much for the offer, I appreciate it, but I think we have that part worked out finally. I have a tentative plan for them, for the first few stops, but things will change based on where they actually stop, traffic, etc. The first stop is planned somwhere between the Tesla Supercharger (160 miles) East Windsor, NJ to Tesla Supercharger Lawnside, NJ (200 miles). So, I'm trying to educate them as much as possible about what they need to know in order to figure it out as they go. The plan right now is to leave Middletown, CT at 9:00 AM on Saturday, stay overnight somewhere in Virginia, and finish up on Sunday morning to Charlotte. So, if anyone knows of a good hotel stop along 95 in Virginia that has reliable EV charging let me know. Also, based on the plan, if anyone has ideas about where they should expect traffic, routes to avoid, chargers to avoid, charging deserts to be aware of, or any other advice, I'm all ears! Thanks.
The best advice I can give before your first trip using DC Fast Chargers (or any public charging, really), is to go to a few of them beforehand. If you know you're going to stop at a Supercharger, download the Tesla app, search for a location, and go there and charge one time. If you know you're going to charge at Electrify America, same thing. Get the app, load your payment information, start a charge. It can be a little intimidating to show up and try to figure all of that out -- especially if there are others waiting in line. Chargepoint and others have a RFID card that you can use to initiate a charge without having to fumble with an app. You still have to make sure that you have your payment information set up correctly beforehand.
That is likely to get you to the next stop with more than 10% or 15%, or whatever you have that set for. During the drive, it becomes a judgement call whether you need to make the stop or not. In reality, a 5-minute stop is often 10-15 minutes off of the highway, just like getting gas.
If the vehicle doesn't have decent trip planning (or at least good estimates during the drive), the best way to do it is with ABRP and a OBDII BLE dongle. Then, ABRP will learn your specific car and your driving tendencies and give you much better predictions -- especially during the trip. For just an occasional trip where there is plenty of charging available along the way, you can plan it with ABRP and then make adjustments along the way.
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I am experimenting with the OBD dongle another member here recommended to me (John1701a) and so far I'm having pretty good results. IN the past I've highly recommended NOT using these things after seeing serious issues come up from having things plugged in constantly to OBD port. I've done some extensive work with this one (and type) and will now qualify that recommendation. Looking back on vehicles where I've seen issues these were NOT Bluetooth type but ones with "tuners", or other "wired" "loads" on the port. So far it's looking like there is no heavy draw (other than Bluetooth power needs) being taken through the port. And like John and others am seeing no harm taking place to the vehicle. If that should change I will most certainly post that. But so far I'm encouraged by this Bluetooth type device.
Right now my only concern with it is POSSIBLY one of security.
I will have my son in law (FAR more tech savvy) and due to it being his "living" check for possible security risks.
Anyway back on subject. I'm seeing good results. And the device is helping ABRP learn my car, my driving and so on
Right now my only concern with it is POSSIBLY one of security.
I will have my son in law (FAR more tech savvy) and due to it being his "living" check for possible security risks.
Anyway back on subject. I'm seeing good results. And the device is helping ABRP learn my car, my driving and so on
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