First time using ABRP, some issues

[bryce]

I took a longer trip this weekend to drop my daughter off at college and decided to give ABRP a try. I was not as impressed as I had hoped to be (my copilot as well).

Some naïveté on my part, but I had assumed it would retrieve my vehicle battery data just like Maps does on my iPhone. Alas that it did not. So it did not know my starting SOC, and was over pessimistic on my usage to the tune of about 10% predicted extra usage over the first 50% of my battery usage. So our first recharging stop was too soon, and it did not reschedule on the fly.

It appears one cannot get automatic car data sharing through iOS devices, and you have to get an OBD dongle, or an android telephone. Neither are ideal. Can anyone explain how to get ABRP to read my vehicle data using an iPhone without having to use an OBD dongle?

And the other significant issues was that the navigation on several occasions instructed me to leave the highway and then get back on the highway. I had that issue with Google Maps about a dozen years ago. Was not at all expecting that to happen with modern software.

So, on the way home I used Apple Maps which was also pessimistic on my battery drain but then did recognize the difference and then re-routed us to charge further down the road.

I think I will keep ABRP on my phone to do some general route planning, and scope out the chargers. But I don't see this being worth the premium price for a monthly or annual subscription.

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[Newton]

I don’t know of anything particularly wrong with an OBDII dongle although you need one that uses a secure connection. It is quite easy to plug it into the port by your left knee.

However where I live ABRP is almost past its usefulness. The ability to use Tesla chargers changes everything, I know I can make it anywhere I want to go so the only question is where do I want to stop. That is almost unrelated to range at this point, not quite as with an ICE vehicle but pretty close.

 

[Refactoringdr]

ABRP is best when used just as a planning tool for long road trips. If it chooses routes that I know are suboptimal, I'll use guidepoints to force it down the road I want. I've found its model for temp/windspeed/elevation change to be pretty darn accurate for the truck. I don't have the dongle, but tweaked the mi/kwh number in my profile until it matches my truck's behavior (I have a separate profile for towing my teardrop camper). Once I know where the optimal stops are, I typically use Apple Maps for driving directions. If Apple Maps wants to choose a different charging station, I will usually just make the one I want be the destination.

YMMV (obviously, and pun intended).

 

[Timeless Epoch]

I have my own issues with ABRP, but the dongle requirement for iOS users is well documented.

My current issue is, I am trying to plan an 8 hour 500-ish mile trip. I’m trying to use the same brand DCFC, so I can buy a membership and take advantage of discounted charging. ABRP insists on using a different provider for literally each stop. I’ve favorited and unfavorited different brands, changed the charging frequency slider, and a few other options. I still get the same route with the same different chargers.

I did narrow the issue down to ABRP thinking that a few EA chargers along the route were offline. Not sure why. The EA app and Plug Share both show them functioning and fine.

I also had an issue back in March where it didn’t think I stopped at a DCFC halfway through my trip. So it kept trying to route me back to it. I could not figure out how to just manually tell it to move on to the next stop. I finally had to pull over, delete the route, and re-enter it from my current point.

So for me, ABRP is good for identifying where I will probably need to charge, but beyond that…

I feel like it is 90% of the way there as for being an ideal EV route planner, but that last 10% is painful.

 

[RickLightning]

I took a longer trip this weekend to drop my daughter off at college and decided to give ABRP a try. I was not as impressed as I had hoped to be (my copilot as well).

Some naïveté on my part, but I had assumed it would retrieve my vehicle battery data just like Maps does on my iPhone. Alas that it did not. So it did not know my starting SOC, and was over pessimistic on my usage to the tune of about 10% predicted extra usage over the first 50% of my battery usage. So our first recharging stop was too soon, and it did not reschedule on the fly.

It appears one cannot get automatic car data sharing through iOS devices, and you have to get an OBD dongle, or an android telephone. Neither are ideal. Can anyone explain how to get ABRP to read my vehicle data using an iPhone without having to use an OBD dongle?

And the other significant issues was that the navigation on several occasions instructed me to leave the highway and then get back on the highway. I had that issue with Google Maps about a dozen years ago. Was not at all expecting that to happen with modern software.

So, on the way home I used Apple Maps which was also pessimistic on my battery drain but then did recognize the difference and then re-routed us to charge further down the road.

I think I will keep ABRP on my phone to do some general route planning, and scope out the chargers. But I don't see this being worth the premium price for a monthly or annual subscription.

Been using the free edition for over 4 years. You TELL IT your starting charge (see dongle replies previously). Android also requires a dongle for live data. As I said, I don't use it.

I plan with ABRP on my desktop, save it, and open it on the phone. As you drive, you learn if you need to tweak the efficiency setting it uses. And if you are going to exceed the speed limit, you tell it that also.

While you drive, you can quite easily adjust the slider at any time to reflect your current SOC.

Your issues are all user issues, not the software.

I have my own issues with ABRP, but the dongle requirement for iOS users is well documented.

My current issue is, I am trying to plan an 8 hour 500-ish mile trip. I’m trying to use the same brand DCFC, so I can buy a membership and take advantage of discounted charging. ABRP insists on using a different provider for literally each stop. I’ve favorited and unfavorited different brands, changed the charging frequency slider, and a few other options. I still get the same route with the same different chargers.

I did narrow the issue down to ABRP thinking that a few EA chargers along the route were offline. Not sure why. The EA app and Plug Share both show them functioning and fine.

I also had an issue back in March where it didn’t think I stopped at a DCFC halfway through my trip. So it kept trying to route me back to it. I could not figure out how to just manually tell it to move on to the next stop. I finally had to pull over, delete the route, and re-enter it from my current point.

So for me, ABRP is good for identifying where I will probably need to charge, but beyond that…

I feel like it is 90% of the way there as for being an ideal EV route planner, but that last 10% is painful.

Changing charging is most easily done by deleting the charge stop and letting it redo the route as you found.

 

[Newfoundland]

I don’t know of anything particularly wrong with an OBDII dongle although you need one that uses a secure connection. It is quite easy to plug it into the port by your left knee.

However where I live ABRP is almost past its usefulness. The ability to use Tesla chargers changes everything, I know I can make it anywhere I want to go so the only question is where do I want to stop. That is almost unrelated to range at this point, not quite as with an ICE vehicle but pretty close.

Agreed! The ability to use most Tesla superchargers changes everything about ease and great locations along the major highways for charging. JUST BE SURE to use the Tesla app to see which locations are available. NOT ALL sites will be available for non-Tesla vehicles as I found recently on a road trip, when not checking in on the official Tesla app.

 

[Firn]

I took a longer trip this weekend to drop my daughter off at college and decided to give ABRP a try. I was not as impressed as I had hoped to be (my copilot as well).

Some naïveté on my part, but I had assumed it would retrieve my vehicle battery data just like Maps does on my iPhone. Alas that it did not. So it did not know my starting SOC, and was over pessimistic on my usage to the tune of about 10% predicted extra usage over the first 50% of my battery usage. So our first recharging stop was too soon, and it did not reschedule on the fly.

It appears one cannot get automatic car data sharing through iOS devices, and you have to get an OBD dongle, or an android telephone. Neither are ideal. Can anyone explain how to get ABRP to read my vehicle data using an iPhone without having to use an OBD dongle?

And the other significant issues was that the navigation on several occasions instructed me to leave the highway and then get back on the highway. I had that issue with Google Maps about a dozen years ago. Was not at all expecting that to happen with modern software.

So, on the way home I used Apple Maps which was also pessimistic on my battery drain but then did recognize the difference and then re-routed us to charge further down the road.

I think I will keep ABRP on my phone to do some general route planning, and scope out the chargers. But I don't see this being worth the premium price for a monthly or annual subscription.

Although I love ABRP I certainly feel those complaints.

With regard to the OBD dongle, that isnt an ABRP issue its a vehicle one. That data isnt exposed in a standardized way. It IS piped directly into Google and apple because they are big enough, but otherwise there is no way for anybody else to grab the vehicle information.
EDIT: Looks like you can actually get vehicle data without the dongle.

I have found abrp good for giving me insight into how my trip will look, and that about it. As a navigation too I find it inferior to about every other mainstream nav tool out there, abd its likelihood of locking up is very high.

As for being pessimistic, that you can set in the app.

In the end some of us really like to know the exact plan, others are more of a "wing it" type. I think Google Maps and Apple Maps are very good options and will serve most very well, its just that abrp gives you much more granular control and understanding if you want or need to know more detail.

 

[Robert1380]

I too have experienced some odd mapping behaviors as the OP described.

I’m definitely not an expert on using ABRP, and to be honest I’m probably not even a novice level user either, but I certainly know how to plan a route or choose waypoints.

ABRP routing has planned routes that were literally over 100 miles out of the way of my destination when I already knew there charging locations from previously used routes. It will have you get off the freeway and travel down a frontage road then put you back on the freeway.

I agree with RickLightning that ABRP is great for desktop trip planning and best used as a tool rather than base your travel planning solely on on the app. Perhaps different parts of the country the app works better as I’ve read stories of people using ABRP entirely for their interstate trips without issue

 

[SpacemanSpiff]

I use ABRP exclusively for pre-trip planning. It works pretty well for that. My primary complaint is that there's nowhere to input that you have a traveling partner that compulsively guzzles water like a fish, and needs to stop every 2 hours, thus invalidating my meticulously planned charging strategy.

 

[PJnc284]

Android also requires a dongle for live data.

If you use the paid version, you get integration with android auto and don't need the dongle.

 

[K6CCC]

JUST BE SURE to use the Tesla app to see which locations are available. NOT ALL sites will be available for non-Tesla vehicles

I'm curious what you are using that does NOT tell you that a SuperCharger is not open to other vehicles? FordPass will show all Tesla SC locations, but will show a Tesla only location as "Incompatible charger". PlugShare will list a SC as Tesla Only or Open to Non-Tesla. The Tesla app (assuming it knows you are driving a Lightning) will not even show Tesla only SuperCharger locations.

Note, I have ABRP on my phone, and for all practical purposes have never used it. I end up using some combination of PlugShare on my desktop computer, with a little fact checking with the Tesla app, or maybe Electrify America / Rivian / BP Pulse as needed. While on a long drive, I already know where I am going to stop to charge and just watching the numbers. So far, I have never taken a trip where I was trying to get down to single digit battery percentage, so changing charge stops on the fly was not needed. Also, like someone else mentioned, the battery will last longer than my bladder...

 

[Newfoundland]

I'm curious what you are using that does NOT tell you that a SuperCharger is not open to other vehicles? FordPass will show all Tesla SC locations, but will show a Tesla only location as "Incompatible charger". PlugShare will list a SC as Tesla Only or Open to Non-Tesla. The Tesla app (assuming it knows you are driving a Lightning) will not even show Tesla only SuperCharger locations.

Note, I have ABRP on my phone, and for all practical purposes have never used it. I end up using some combination of PlugShare on my desktop computer, with a little fact checking with the Tesla app, or maybe Electrify America / Rivian / BP Pulse as needed. While on a long drive, I already know where I am going to stop to charge and just watching the numbers. So far, I have never taken a trip where I was trying to get down to single digit battery percentage, so changing charge stops on the fly was not needed. Also, like someone else mentioned, the battery will last longer than my bladder...

I prefer using the Tesla locations for ease of use and better charging locations as much as possible. What I do is open the Tesla app and choose “my non-Tesla vehicle“ and then it shows me the locations available. I had not chosen to use the Ford app on the most recent trip, but you me this is another option.

 

[On the Road with Ralph]

Echoing points previously made:

1) ABRP is probably best used to survey routes in advance, rather than a real time driving tool.

2) Apple Maps + CarPlay is solid, especially after upgrading to iOS 26. I do A LOT of long distance driving and it is my preferred real time app.

3) In the last three years the state of DCFC charging has significantly improved. I recently crossed through Arkansas, Tennessee, Mississippi, and Alabama - all EV unfriendly states - and had no problem keeping my SR Lightning charged. And I did that with VERY LITTLE route planning on mostly two lane country roads at night. As others have pointed out, the Tesla network’s opening to other brands is a significant part of the reason this is possible.

 

[RickLightning]

Agreed! The ability to use most Tesla superchargers changes everything about ease and great locations along the major highways for charging. JUST BE SURE to use the Tesla app to see which locations are available. NOT ALL sites will be available for non-Tesla vehicles as I found recently on a road trip, when not checking in on the official Tesla app.

In PlugShare, select the filter "Hide Tesla Only Locations", and you'll never see a non-compatible location.

In the Tesla app, enter your vehicle and you have an adapter, same thing.

In ABRP, enter your vehicle and that you have an adapter, also same thing - non-compatible locations are invisible.

Some suggest looking at colored bands to determine version of Tesla charger, but that's for people who like to waste time. And V3 and V4 locations you can't look at to see they're not compatible.

I'm curious what you are using that does NOT tell you that a SuperCharger is not open to other vehicles? FordPass will show all Tesla SC locations, but will show a Tesla only location as "Incompatible charger". PlugShare will list a SC as Tesla Only or Open to Non-Tesla. The Tesla app (assuming it knows you are driving a Lightning) will not even show Tesla only SuperCharger locations.

Note, I have ABRP on my phone, and for all practical purposes have never used it. I end up using some combination of PlugShare on my desktop computer, with a little fact checking with the Tesla app, or maybe Electrify America / Rivian / BP Pulse as needed. While on a long drive, I already know where I am going to stop to charge and just watching the numbers. So far, I have never taken a trip where I was trying to get down to single digit battery percentage, so changing charge stops on the fly was not needed. Also, like someone else mentioned, the battery will last longer than my bladder...

You haven't lived until you've gone into the single digits...

 

[Devereuxstreet]

Am I wrong to think that the underlying problem we are all trying to address is the fact that Ford has not bothered to integrate Tesla Superchargers into its navigation system? When we travel in my wife’ Tesla our planning (if any) is just putting our destination in the Tesla navigation system and it does everything for us. It’s so ironic that Ford’s navigation system shows me icons for every gas station I drive by, but it can’t include Tesla Superchargers in its navigation system. Please correct me if I’m missing something…

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