My thoughts after 4 years of EV ownership

[halfbakedenchilada]

Particularly with that statement, I would always verify a station status and availability with the Tesla app.

Admit that I got lazy because Tesla stations are usually fine, but I always check now!

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[halfbakedenchilada]

That's strange. Google Maps recently started showing real-time availability for Superchargers, so Tesla must still be making that data available.

That's a good point. Maybe a year ago ABRP did show the Tesla station status, but it went away sometime in the last year or so. But, yes, clearly, they are willing and/or able to do it with Google Maps ... I wonder if anyone knows what's changed? My suspicion is that if ABRP *could* show these data they would, so I suspect it's from Tesla's side, but of course I don't know.

 

[K6CCC]

Google Maps recently started showing real-time availability for Superchargers, so Tesla must still be making that data available.

Sometimes. From what I have seen, if a station shows at all, it will show availability - and it usually is at least close to what the Tesla app shows. HOWEVER, it's a total crap shoot IF a station will show at all. Sometimes a station will show and most of the time it will not. This is not limited to Tesla, but if anything it is worse with Tesla. There are five SuperCharger stations within a 5 mile radius of my home. The frustrating part is that one day one or two of the five will show up and the next time you look different ones will show. Not at all reliable.

And for clarification, I am talking about Google Maps via Android Auto. If I bring up Google Maps on my phone EV charging does not show up at all unless I go in the the filtering and select EV charging and then it will give me a list that shows SOME locations (none of the nearby Tesla stations). Useless.

 

[halfbakedenchilada]

I just looked at the ABRP featurbase, and there is a thread from about a year ago:

https://abrp.featurebase.app/p/tesla-failure

Someone from ABRP said this:

"Tesla has removed status from all third-party apps. We are in the process of reaching an agreement with Tesla and until that is complete we will not have status on the chargers or the ability to add new chargers. We are really sorry about this but right now there's nothing we can do about it."

So it does seems to be from Tesla's end. They seem to be sharing the data with Google, although perhaps not perfectly as others have said.

 

[carys98]

I was hoping you had put your thoughts into a written post.

After 14 years of EV ownership, I sold my last combustion car last year and am now all-in on EVs.

One quick thought: For road trips, I prefer a Tesla. The supercharger network is much better than the CCS network, especially when you include the older V2 stations. Tesla's navigation is very, very good at picking out places to charge along your route and letting you know how long to charge and how much battery you'll have when you reach the next station. It makes such trips pretty easy.

But fear not - I love my Lightning. Very comfortable, very roomy, and It does truck things very well.

I wish I liked my Charger Daytona as well as it looks. It's my best-looking car, but my least favorite to drive.

It was a real game changer when Tesla opened up their network but now I can go almost everywhere I would ever road trip without having to use a Tesla charger. I am already able to avoid V3 stations 90% of the time and with the rapid expansion of Ionna, Wal-Mart, Mercedes, and BP I will probably be able to avoid them altogether within a year.

 

[K6CCC]

It was a real game changer when Tesla opened up their network but now I can go almost everywhere I would ever road trip without having to use a Tesla charger. I am already able to avoid V3 stations 90% of the time and with the rapid expansion of Ionna, Wal-Mart, Mercedes, and BP I will probably be able to avoid them altogether within a year.

Not here in the SW USA. There are only a VERY SMALL number of IONNA stations, no Walmart stations (except a couple in Phoenix), and only a few BP Pulse stations. Tesla is my preferred DCFC source because there are almost stalls available (unlike E.A., EVgo, ChargePoint, etc).

 

[hturnerfamily]

yes, already FOUR years... time flies.... but...



my over 200 mile drive today, much at 70mph on interstate 75 in Georgia, makes me pause...

IT IS STILL SUCH AN AMAZING MACHINE!!!!!!!

I pinch myself, again.

It was also ON all day long, from 6:30am until I arrived back home at 3:30pm... air conditioning the whole time, in the heat and mostly HUMIDITY of the central Georgia roadways. Whether while stopped for some work, seeing my folks, seeing my granddaughter, or just going in for some delicious Brunswick stew at STRIPLINGS in Perry(ummmmm!)... the truck never faultered, never asked 'why?', and never let me down. LOVE IT!

 

[hturnerfamily]

...and, going in for my 70,000 mile Ford 'checkup' maintenance list this week, although, really, even though I'll have them go thru the list, my only slight concerns would be brake pads, and maybe checking again to see if any grease leakage/spray from the rear drive-axle boots is active. My only 'repair', under warranty, was over a year ago, when I noticed this 'leakage' around the axle/wishbone, although it did not cause any driving issues... they said while it was likely from a small tear in one of the boots, Ford would replace the whole short axle unit, which contains boots on both ends. They did. No issues since.

Amazing.

*well, I can't believe I forgot about the early Nov '25 other 'repair'... cell 63 of module 7... module replacement. But, as time has flown by, and thousands of miles since, it's slipped my mind. : )

 

[CavRider]

You can do Google Maps but it’s not integrated and linked with the trucks BMS like it is with Android Auto or how Apple Maps attempts to and does poorly. It’s basically navigating but not showing you real time battery percentage, estimated performance at arrival or route planning based on that or any real time data.

Have you given any thought to just keeping a dedicated Android phone in the truck for navigation purposes? They are pretty cheap on the used market aren't they? Like a couple hundred bucks or so?

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