Almost uneventful 4500 mile trip

[msadan]

This is the longest trip I've taken in my '23 SR, 4501 miles over 9 days. Only had one major charging issue, on the last day, just a few hours from home. Started charging normally at an Ionna charger, but after just one minute I got a "Charging station fault" message and a red ring at the charge port. There was another car charging at the same cabinet and they got an error too. There was someone doing maintenance on one of the other Ionna cabinets, and I'm just guessing, but I bet they somehow caused the error.

Tried starting another charge but got the same error. No big deal, there are Tesla Superchargers just across the parking lot. Tried charging there, same error.

The only things that I know to try at this point are rebooting the center screen and disconnecting the 12 volt battery. Rebooting the center screen did the job, or possibly it was just coincidence and the error somehow timed out. Either way I charged successfully and then charged without issue two more times on my way home.

I used mainly Tesla Superchargers, also some Ionna, EVgo, and EA. All of the non-Tesla equipment appeared to be no more than a year or two old. The Tesla Superchargers were about one third the newer V4 cabinets with long cables, the rest were the older ones.

The 1.8 mi/kWh reflects a lot of 80+ mph driving, and yes, I'm aware of how much that impacts range. A lot of the driving was out west, 75 - 80 mph speed limits, so really just going with the flow. I'm old and I didn't mind the frequent charging stops. My cannonball run style driving days are long behind me.

Overall it was a mostly uneventful drive, and the DCFC options were more than adequate. Average charge stop was 25 minutes, average cost was $0.45/kWh. Overall fuel cost was probably similar to an ICE truck.

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[K6CCC]

Where did you go?

 

[msadan]

Where did you go?

Indiana to California and back.

 

[Robert1380]

This is the longest trip I've taken in my '23 SR, 4501 miles over 9 days. Only had one major charging issue, on the last day, just a few hours from home. Started charging normally at an Ionna charger, but after just one minute I got a "Charging station fault" message and a red ring at the charge port. There was another car charging at the same cabinet and they got an error too. There was someone doing maintenance on one of the other Ionna cabinets, and I'm just guessing, but I bet they somehow caused the error.

Tried starting another charge but got the same error. No big deal, there are Tesla Superchargers just across the parking lot. Tried charging there, same error.

The only things that I know to try at this point are rebooting the center screen and disconnecting the 12 volt battery. Rebooting the center screen did the job, or possibly it was just coincidence and the error somehow timed out. Either way I charged successfully and then charged without issue two more times on my way home.

I used mainly Tesla Superchargers, also some Ionna, EVgo, and EA. All of the non-Tesla equipment appeared to be no more than a year or two old. The Tesla Superchargers were about one third the newer V4 cabinets with long cables, the rest were the older ones.

The 1.8 mi/kWh reflects a lot of 80+ mph driving, and yes, I'm aware of how much that impacts range. A lot of the driving was out west, 75 - 80 mph speed limits, so really just going with the flow. I'm old and I didn't mind the frequent charging stops. My cannonball run style driving days are long behind me.

Overall it was a mostly uneventful drive, and the DCFC options were more than adequate. Average charge stop was 25 minutes, average cost was $0.45/kWh. Overall fuel cost was probably similar to an ICE truck.

Getting ready to do a 2300 mile trip. Was wondering if you charged during your trip per the recommendations of the Ford mapping or ABRP?

I’m curious cuz I never figured out why when setting up the routes it has you stop for 10 min at one location and 26 at another and so on. Wondering if most people just charge to 80-90 percent at each stop?

 

[K6CCC]

From my limited playing with ABRP, it tends not to cause you to charge passed the 80% point where charge rate slows way down. I have never used either ABRP nor Ford Nav for actual trip /charge routing. I at least let ABRP on my PC plot it out, but I make my own decisions on where I will charge. I do enough planning in advance that I pretty well know where I am going to charge before I ever leave the house. I use a combination of PlugShare.com, and the apps for the sites I expect to use (primarily that means Tesla, but sometimes others). And yes, that may include some short charges. For example, on my Tucson trip in March, my first charge stop was in Cathedral City - only 89 miles from home when I was down to 72%. This was more of a potty stop where I could also charge, but I added 20 KWH or 40 miles or so. I did not really need the power, but it got me to my overnight spot in Quartzite, AZ with plenty of power.

For the most part, the battery will last quite a bit longer than my bladder, so a short stop for the plumbing where I happen also to be able to charge is a plus. As a friend of mine (Tesla driver) said: Three reasons to stop at a charger - in this order: Potty, Food, Charge.

 

[Robert1380]

From my limited playing with ABRP, it tends not to cause you to charge passed the 80% point where charge rate slows way down. I have never used either ABRP nor Ford Nav for actual trip /charge routing. I at least let ABRP on my PC plot it out, but I make my own decisions on where I will charge. I do enough planning in advance that I pretty well know where I am going to charge before I ever leave the house. I use a combination of PlugShare.com, and the apps for the sites I expect to use (primarily that means Tesla, but sometimes others). And yes, that may include some short charges. For example, on my Tucson trip in March, my first charge stop was in Cathedral City - only 89 miles from home when I was down to 72%. This was more of a potty stop where I could also charge, but I added 20 KWH or 40 miles or so. I did not really need the power, but it got me to my overnight spot in Quartzite, AZ with plenty of power.

For the most part, the battery will last quite a bit longer than my bladder, so a short stop for the plumbing where I happen also to be able to charge is a plus. As a friend of mine (Tesla driver) said: Three reasons to stop at a charger - in this order: Potty, Food, Charge.

I just wondered why the apps calculate the routes with such odd times and SOC. I have 7 stops and it’s telling me stop at Tesla for 13 minutes then the next stops at EA for 31 minutes and Tesla for 12 minutes. Why don’t they have you charge to 80 each stop?

 

[K6CCC]

Obviously I don't control the software and how it calculates. I generally don't try to run too deeply and how high I go does depend a bit on how far I expect to be going - or convenience. The only reason the El Centro stop was to 95% is I wanted to make sure to get home and it was the least expensive charger I used.

Let's see if I can make this look reasonable. This is an extract from my charging spreadsheet for my Tucson trip.

18801	3/17 7:24	3/17 10:23	2:59	Home (FCSP)	SCE	85%	100%	19.0
18890	3/17 12:19	3/17 12:34	0:15	Cathedral City	Tesla	72%	86%	20.0
19003	3/17 19:49	3/17 20:25	0:36	Quartzite, AZ	Tesla	22%	74%	69.6
19062	3/18 6:59	3/18 7:28	0:29	Quartzite, AZ	Tesla	63%	90%	36.7
19212	3/18 13:09	3/18 13:47	0:38	Chandler, Az	Tesla	27%	80%	73.6
19297	3/19 13:31	3/19 13:59	0:28	Eloy, AZ	BP Pulse	48%	87%	54.8
19453	3/22 11:20	3/22 12:00	0:40	Eloy, AZ	BP Pulse	23%	82%	80.2
19587	3/22 14:10	3/22 14:54	0:44	Tacna, AZ	Tesla	16%	80%	87.7
19689	3/22 16:56	3/22 17:58	1:02	El Centro	Tesla	33%	95%	87.4
19875	3/22 22:40	3/23 7:02	8:22	Home (FCSP)	SCE	21%	85%	82.8

 

[Robert1380]

Obviously I don't control the software and how it calculates. I generally don't try to run too deeply and how high I go does depend a bit on how far I expect to be going - or convenience. The only reason the El Centro stop was to 95% is I wanted to make sure to get home and it was the least expensive charger I used.

Let's see if I can make this look reasonable. This is an extract from my charging spreadsheet for my Tucson trip.

18801	3/17 7:24	3/17 10:23	2:59	Home (FCSP)	SCE	85%	100%	19.0
18890	3/17 12:19	3/17 12:34	0:15	Cathedral City	Tesla	72%	86%	20.0
19003	3/17 19:49	3/17 20:25	0:36	Quartzite, AZ	Tesla	22%	74%	69.6
19062	3/18 6:59	3/18 7:28	0:29	Quartzite, AZ	Tesla	63%	90%	36.7
19212	3/18 13:09	3/18 13:47	0:38	Chandler, Az	Tesla	27%	80%	73.6
19297	3/19 13:31	3/19 13:59	0:28	Eloy, AZ	BP Pulse	48%	87%	54.8
19453	3/22 11:20	3/22 12:00	0:40	Eloy, AZ	BP Pulse	23%	82%	80.2
19587	3/22 14:10	3/22 14:54	0:44	Tacna, AZ	Tesla	16%	80%	87.7
19689	3/22 16:56	3/22 17:58	1:02	El Centro	Tesla	33%	95%	87.4
19875	3/22 22:40	3/23 7:02	8:22	Home (FCSP)	SCE	21%	85%	82.8

Very interesting. I won’t be that detailed in my record keeping and it seems you charged near the 80% mark each stop. Little more little less

 

[dustinroyer]

ABRP creates what’s called an optimized charging plan. The software knows the charging curve of the vehicle you tell it you’re driving and calculates the amount of energy you need to get to the next charger or your destination. It will weigh variables such as average speed on the route, vehicle consumption, vehicle charging speed at various states of charge, etc. to find the quickest way to get you to your destination with the state of charge you set.

Sometimes it’s faster to charge just enough to get to the next charger than to charge more and skip a charger.

 

[Robert1380]

ABRP creates what’s called an optimized charging plan. The software knows the charging curve of the vehicle you tell it you’re driving and calculates the amount of energy you need to get to the next charger or your destination. It will weigh variables such as average speed on the route, vehicle consumption, vehicle charging speed at various states of charge, etc. to find the quickest way to get you to your destination with the state of charge you set.

Sometimes it’s faster to charge just enough to get to the next charger than to charge more and skip a charger.

Seems like most users of ABRP tend to use it for route planning and not so much for its intended purpose of planning and navigation.

I think I’m going to mix it up a bit on my trip. I’ll use the Ford Navi for one leg and ABRP for another and see which works better.

 

[dustinroyer]

Seems like most users of ABRP tend to use it for route planning and not so much for its intended purpose of planning and navigation.

I think I’m going to mix it up a bit on my trip. I’ll use the Ford Navi for one leg and ABRP for another and see which works better.

That’s what I usually do. I plan a trip using ABRP, scout the recommended stops using PlugShare, then use Apple Maps to navigate to the individual chargers.

It’s possible to use just one tool for planning and in-car routing, but there are things I like about each that make it worth it to me to go through the trouble.

Note that, if you want or need battery preconditioning (very hot or very cold weather,) the built-in navigation is the most reliable way to get it. Some MY trucks don’t precondition, some precondition only with built-in navigation, and some will with Android Auto. It’s a mess.

 

[RickLightning]

I just wondered why the apps calculate the routes with such odd times and SOC. I have 7 stops and it’s telling me stop at Tesla for 13 minutes then the next stops at EA for 31 minutes and Tesla for 12 minutes. Why don’t they have you charge to 80 each stop?

Do the following.

1) Make sure your selection is set to optimal.
2) Right down the plan or screen save, specifically number of charging stops and total time charging.
3) Go into each stop and force it to 80%.
4) Now, write down the same numbers. See how much time you are now wasting charging over optimal.

 

[Robert1380]

That’s what I usually do. I plan a trip using ABRP, scout the recommended stops using PlugShare, then use Apple Maps to navigate to the individual chargers.

It’s possible to use just one tool for planning and in-car routing, but there are things I like about each that make it worth it to me to go through the trouble.

Note that, if you want or need battery preconditioning (very hot or very cold weather,) the built-in navigation is the most reliable way to get it. Some MY trucks don’t precondition, some precondition only with built-in navigation, and some will with Android Auto. It’s a mess.

That’s a good reminder about the pre-conditioning. Especially on such a long trip. Thank you!

 

[Robert1380]

Do the following.

1) Make sure your selection is set to optimal.
2) Right down the plan or screen save, specifically number of charging stops and total time charging.
3) Go into each stop and force it to 80%.
4) Now, write down the same numbers. See how much time you are now wasting charging over optimal.

Great points Rick. I’ll certainly do that.

 

[RickLightning]

Great points Rick. I’ll certainly do that.

I just did it.

Trip from Miami to Columbus. ABRP comes up with 7 stops for 3:38, arriving with 6%. I then force each stop to 80%. Do one, replan (as it might skip a stop or redo them), then another. Now have 9 stops for 4:48, wasting at least 1:10. Arrive with 64%.

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