Charge Station List/Type/Cost Database

[shutterbug]

Also the ford pass app is supposed to have this information in it as well. Someone with an mme could share some screenshots or maybe over on the mach-e forum there's more information

Ford Pass just lists nearest chargers, which may not be in the direction you need to go. However, when you put in your destination in the navigation system, it will tell you whether it thinks you need to charge to reach your destination and will list chargers that are on the way.

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[sotek2345]

TN cost per minute won’t last long. It’s a silly way to sell “fuel”. Can I go into a TN bar and drink beer by the minute?

It is a regulatory thing. Some states have laws that only utility companies can sell electricity. Therefore charging stations in those states legally can't sell you power. But they can sell you access to the charger, hence the cost per time.

If you want to change it in your state, talk to your elected officials.

 

[rtw819]

Since I cannot find such a resource I am trying to build my own regional model and keep it updated.

Below are links to another "alternative" source (pun intentional with nationwide EVSE (Electric Vehicle Supply Equipment -- aka. "charging station") location data that you might find useful and readily accessible in several formats. They have options to find/view existing and planned infrastructure as well.

Alternative Fuels Data Center: Electric Vehicle Charging Station Locations (energy.gov)
https://afdc.energy.gov/fuels/electricity_locations.html#/find/nearest?fuel=ELEC

The AFDC data is downloadable in several different formats:
Alternative Fuels Data Center: Data Downloads (energy.gov)
https://afdc.energy.gov/data_download/

Of course, as others have mentioned, you should absolutely consider PlugShare (the current defacto standard EV driver's charging research app and site) and the bevy of charging company websites and associated smart phone applications for more accurate charger availability, reliability, and pricing details.

As for ABRP (ABetterRoutePlanner.com) -- With the right configuration and settings we have found it can be a great app (both website and phone) for planning travelling with our EVs, even given the different quirks between the website and the phone app. We've been planning trips with it for just shy of 2 1/2 years and have been recommending it for the same.

That said, at this point in the game I highly doubt ABRP has any real-life data captures yet for the Lightning as the app lists it still in the early "alpha" state. (I'm guessing the Ford employees haven't been willing to plug in an OBD2 reader and set up their phones to upload road trip data to a third party.) ABRP collects user provided anonymized telemetry data from the vehicle's ODB2 port via apps and your Smartphone Cellular Data (including considerations for things like elevation, altitude, wind, weather, road speeds, etc.) to build out their efficiency models for the respective vehicles to allow calculating and planning routes. Until ABRP gets sufficient data sets to build out the Standard and Extended Lightning efficiency calculation models, it is probably fair to say that the on-board Ford Navigation will be way more accurate for quite some time.

On a separate train of thought, I'm not entirely sure how ABRP calculations will work with towing. The ABRP folks might have to get inventive with implementing their towing data gathering since the efficiency profiles are likely to be drastically different compared to just the truck with nothing behind it.


Good luck with your charging data gathering efforts!

 

[hturnerfamily]

I just went on a 'trip' in my Nissan LEAF the other day, and have another lengthy trip next week - the 'planning' of charging options currently requires a LOT of work, but I think as time moves forward, this will be less of an issue as more and more stations and options are installed. Honestly, though, just like gas stations, without an app like GasBuddy, or similar apps, it's really just a crap shoot as to what you are going to find when you 'arrive'. You might not be as worried about finding gas stations when you travel, because, after all, they are literally EVERYWHERE, but the PRICE is all over the place.

I find that doing a basic google-map search for 'charging station' or 'ev charging' will return many options, BUT, I have also found that it's not a perfect search - If you don't ZOOM IN to a specific area, and sometimes KEEP zooming in, you might miss many options that actually DO exist! For some reason, google, and maybe other maps, too, want to 'generalize' points of interest, rather than actually showing ALL of them. It's understandable that it might clog the screen with POI points, but sometimes that would actually be a NICE outcome.
I've also found that using SPECIFIC apps, like PlugShare, give a MUCH better outcome, although they, too, are NOT perfect. It's currently the wild west when it comes to 'how' to find charging stations and charging options - some are better than others, some miss details, and some miss charging stations all together. Crazy.

If you are focused soley on DC FAST CHARGING, you'll probably see most of those on any map or app, but Level 2 240v chargers are a different story. You might have one in the middle of the town, at city hall, where you are traveling - but you might never know it. City, municipal, county, and regional type chargers don't get the attention that the 'pay-per-charge' stations do. Even college campus chargers don't always show up, and are generally free. Most auto dealers who sell EVs 'should' have a charger, at least a Level 2, but I've unfortunately found these as the most 'out-of-service' options anywhere. Oh well.

An interesting side note, as well - electric utilities sometimes have their own charging station(s), and yes, many times they are not shown on any map or app, either. Interesting...

 

[RickLightning]

I just went on a 'trip' in my Nissan LEAF the other day, and have another lengthy trip next week - the 'planning' of charging options currently requires a LOT of work, but I think as time moves forward, this will be less of an issue as more and more stations and options are installed. Honestly, though, just like gas stations, without an app like GasBuddy, or similar apps, it's really just a crap shoot as to what you are going to find when you 'arrive'. You might not be as worried about finding gas stations when you travel, because, after all, they are literally EVERYWHERE, but the PRICE is all over the place.

I find that doing a basic google-map search for 'charging station' or 'ev charging' will return many options, BUT, I have also found that it's not a perfect search - If you don't ZOOM IN to a specific area, and sometimes KEEP zooming in, you might miss many options that actually DO exist! For some reason, google, and maybe other maps, too, want to 'generalize' points of interest, rather than actually showing ALL of them. It's understandable that it might clog the screen with POI points, but sometimes that would actually be a NICE outcome.
I've also found that using SPECIFIC apps, like PlugShare, give a MUCH better outcome, although they, too, are NOT perfect. It's currently the wild west when it comes to 'how' to find charging stations and charging options - some are better than others, some miss details, and some miss charging stations all together. Crazy.

If you are focused soley on DC FAST CHARGING, you'll probably see most of those on any map or app, but Level 2 240v chargers are a different story. You might have one in the middle of the town, at city hall, where you are traveling - but you might never know it. City, municipal, county, and regional type chargers don't get the attention that the 'pay-per-charge' stations do. Even college campus chargers don't always show up, and are generally free. Most auto dealers who sell EVs 'should' have a charger, at least a Level 2, but I've unfortunately found these as the most 'out-of-service' options anywhere. Oh well.

An interesting side note, as well - electric utilities sometimes have their own charging station(s), and yes, many times they are not shown on any map or app, either. Interesting...

PlugShare is designed for YOU to add station. I did it once.

 

[vandy1981]

I just went on a 'trip' in my Nissan LEAF the other day, and have another lengthy trip next week - the 'planning' of charging options currently requires a LOT of work.

You need to do advanced route planning for EV road trips, but I wouldn't say that it's time intensive. I use Plugshare to locate charger locations and assess reliability and use A Better Routeplanner for route planning.

Both apps are easy to use and it only takes a few minutes to plan a lengthy multi-stop road trip.

 

[hturnerfamily]

thankfully, the LIGHTNING comes with a built-in route planner, highlighting CHARGE STATION options along the way, which will be very nice.

 

[RickLightning]

thankfully, the LIGHTNING comes with a built-in route planner, highlighting CHARGE STATION options along the way, which will be very nice.

The exact same as the Mach-E, and I can tell you from experience it's got issues. Using ABRP, PlugShare, and GoogleMaps are necessities for trip planning.

 

[beatle]

I'll echo what others have said about pre-planning being key to a happier EV road trip, even if the car will plan your stops for you. ABRP is excellent and gives you more flexibility in deciding how low you're willing to let your battery get before reaching a charger, how fast you're moving, how much extra weight you have, what the weather is, how much charge you start with, how fast you drive, etc. It is nice that Ford includes a somewhat trip planner in the car that will automatically insert charging stops, but I don't think any in-car planner will match the flexibility of a dedicated app/site for planning purposes. Or maybe I'm just too much of a control freak.

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