Ford (and most) OEMs have missed the point with Connected Navigation

[flypony53]

Ok, so I just hit my 3 year mark yesterday as many other drivers have. I got the notice that my connected navigation trial has expired, and I should renew to keep all of the great things Ford provides, such as Latest maps to give me the best route based on my towing needs, Enhanced Point of Interest information including...Gas and Charging stations, although, almost a year and a half after gaining access, Tesla superchargers still do not show as an option.

Where I see OEMs outside of Tesla, Rivian and I believe Lucid is the thought that a charging station is just a gas station and EV drivers do no need to know the best options for their vehicle at that moment. The 3 EV manufacturers I list, include routing with charging by default. The range and charging is all based on the vehicle, road conditions and driving habits. For the most part, they manage to take you where you need to go and hold your hand along the way.

I write this as I formally ran Global IT at a rental car company, and I am avid EV supporter. When I joined the company, one of the biggest concerns from senior leadership was the adoption of EVs and how would we improve our satisfaction for EV drivers. I set out to always get an EV on every trip I made. What I found is OEMs think charging is just like gas. They do not help the driver to understand the complexities of charging, what stations are compatible, the difference between Level 2 and Fast Charging, how long you need to charge, not to charge to 100%, etc. Google and Apple have a bias towards whomever is paying them more for placement in search results, so many EV drivers are left on their own to find solutions with most OEMs. A Better Route Planner with a OBD II adapter is usually pretty good, but struggles at the details and is overly optimistic in its calculations.

Anyway, rant over. Tesla and other EV first manufacturers know this is a problem. Now, I have rarely used the Ford Navigation as it has always been terrible at estimating range and conditions, so I will not be purchasing.

EDIT: @Charge_Rob pointed out that Ford does actually show routing and adding chargers to the routing. It does not have the option to show near-by chargers without Connected Navigation. Maybe other OEMs do as well and the point of my post is null and void. That could be the case as well.

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[Charge_Rob]

Totally get why folks like CarPlay and Android Auto routing, but from someone who prefers Connected Nav:

The 3 EV manufacturers I list, include routing with charging by default.

By default, Connected Navigation will automatically add chargers to any route.

The range and charging is all based on the vehicle, road conditions and driving habits.

When using Connected Navigation, Intelligent Range considers outside air temperature, elevation changes along your route, speed limits along your route, how you personally drive, and more to calculate an updated range estimate for your exact vehicle on the exact route you're about to drive.

A Better Route Planner with a OBD II adapter is usually pretty good, but struggles at the details and is overly optimistic in its calculations.

I've done probably 100,000 miles between my Mustang Mach-Es and the F-150 Lightning with Connected Navigation as my preferred platform for the vast, vast majority of that because of its range accuracy and because it is not over-optimistic in its calculations.

Connected Navigation also works without a cell signal (helpful on my national park road trips and generally rural areas I tend to go), shows live weather radar on screen which is helpful for planning routes around big storms, and generally has better and more proactive traffic avoidance warnings and suggestions than Google/Apple in my experience.

It also can be configured to do multi-stop trips easier than Apple Maps or Google Maps, and I love that I can have it display the vehicle's elevation on screen at all times as someone who road trips a lot it's always nice to see.

Connected Navigation also works independently of a phone, so when switching between the driver and passenger's phones for CarPlay or Android Auto as drivers switch off or change media sources, there's no need to re-input the route to keep navigating.

 

[Grumpy2]

The FoMoCo navigation is terrible. It seems all USA technology in EVs have a long ways to go to match the Chinese. See what Farley said about it recently:

https://insideevs.com/news/764318/ford-ceo-china-evs-humbled/

 

[The Weatherman]

Anyone noticed that FOMOCO removed the Public Charging Assistance App from the Infotainment system just before the original buyers 2022’s ‘Free’ Navigation trials expired.

I may be a skeptic but it looks like they realized most of us wouldn’t pay up for the third rate navigation system if we could find the chargers we needed on that App. Could be wrong, but just saying.

 

[flypony53]

Totally get why folks like CarPlay and Android Auto routing, but from someone who prefers Connected Nav:



By default, Connected Navigation will automatically add chargers to any route.



When using Connected Navigation, Intelligent Range considers outside air temperature, elevation changes along your route, speed limits along your route, how you personally drive, and more to calculate an updated range estimate for your exact vehicle on the exact route you're about to drive.



I've done probably 100,000 miles between my Mustang Mach-Es and the F-150 Lightning with Connected Navigation as my preferred platform for the vast, vast majority of that because of its range accuracy and because it is not over-optimistic in its calculations.

Connected Navigation also works without a cell signal (helpful on my national park road trips and generally rural areas I tend to go), shows live weather radar on screen which is helpful for planning routes around big storms, and generally has better and more proactive traffic avoidance warnings and suggestions than Google/Apple in my experience.

It also can be configured to do multi-stop trips easier than Apple Maps or Google Maps, and I love that I can have it display the vehicle's elevation on screen at all times as someone who road trips a lot it's always nice to see.

Connected Navigation also works independently of a phone, so when switching between the driver and passenger's phones for CarPlay or Android Auto as drivers switch off or change media sources, there's no need to re-input the route to keep navigating.

my point on the adding chargers to a route, it requires the payed Connected Navigation. It does not add them unless you pay more. Rivian, Tesla and I believe Lucid do this with standard, non extra connectivity. With Tesla and Rivian, you get traffic, weather, music services and more for the Premium Connection fee.

 

[Charge_Rob]

my point on the adding chargers to a route, it requires the payed Connected Navigation. It does not add them unless you pay more. Rivian, Tesla and I believe Lucid do this with standard, non extra connectivity. With Tesla and Rivian, you get traffic, weather, music services and more for the Premium Connection fee.

That's not true for vehicles with Connected Built-In Navigation. Chargers are still added to routes if required.

However, the chargers that are added are potentially out of date, as the last time the database was updated was when the subscription was active. The navigation provider's data services don't come for free, but you did pre-pay for 3 years of that data when you purchased the vehicle.

Rivian, Tesla, and Lucid also critically do not allow for Apple Maps EV Routing in CarPlay or Google Maps EV Routing with Android Auto, both of which are free and first launched in partnership with Ford.

That's what's awesome about having choices. Connected Navigation is my choice virtually all the time, but that's also why Apple Maps EV Routing and Google Maps EV Routing exist if those float your boat more.

 

[sotek2345]

I will just chime in that last weekend I tried using the Ford navigation in my Wife's mach-e for a trip as we were only at 23% battery leaving our location (no charging there) and I thought Ford might do the best at picking from between a few fast charging options I saw to optimized time.

Ford nav picked a L2 charger, that was further away than the closest fast charger, and wanted me to charge there for 6 hours to get home.

Not a good system.....

 

[flypony53]

That's not true for vehicles with Connected Built-In Navigation. Chargers are still added to routes if required.

However, the chargers that are added are potentially out of date, as the last time the database was updated was when the subscription was active. The navigation provider's data services don't come for free, but you did pre-pay for 3 years of that data when you purchased the vehicle.

Rivian, Tesla, and Lucid also critically do not allow for Apple Maps EV Routing in CarPlay or Google Maps EV Routing with Android Auto, both of which are free and first launched in partnership with Ford.

That's what's awesome about having choices. Connected Navigation is my choice virtually all the time, but that's also why Apple Maps EV Routing and Google Maps EV Routing exist if those float your boat more.

ok, so I stand corrected on the navigation part, I stopped using built in navigation once Tesla chargers were open and never showed on the map for me. I was looking at the Show chargers on the map and that is now grayed out with no connection.

Thanks again. I will update my initial post to reflect that.

 

[RocketGhost]

The fact that the Ford nav won't auto-route you to Tesla chargers is a deal killer for me. I have Apple Maps set to only route me to Tesla. They are reliable and rarely are full. If for some reason they are too far out of the way I'll look for something else.

The Ford nav would be great if I can select preferred networks, second-choice networks, and minimum charging speed. If I'd save a lot of time by using a second-choice network, it would prompt me. And if live data shows that a preferred station is full it would prompt me to go out of my way to a secondary network station if it would save time. A bonus would be a setting for destination SOC. Ford and Apple assume that you can charge at or near your destination. Maybe I want to arrive at say 60% so I can drive around town before charging.

 

[02Reaper]

A few things from me on the Ford navigation. Next month my trial will end. At first when I tried using it, I had the toggle on to avoid unpaved roads, and it would take me down an unpaved road regardless of the route I chose. Still will. Why is the toggle there if it doesn't work? I've noticed a few new chargers in surrounding towns and my town have been added (chargepoint), but no tesla stations. Every one of the mapping choices that I have used so far won't tell you what's currently available as far as this station has 8 stalls but 4 are currently in use. When coming home from vacation earlier this month I got sent to a Electrify America station that had 4 stalls and only one was working with a line to use it. Luckily on the Ford app, I found a Tesla station a mile down the road with 23 open stalls. Now why can't in car navigation do this?

 

[davehu]

I will just chime in that last weekend I tried using the Ford navigation in my Wife's mach-e for a trip as we were only at 23% battery leaving our location (no charging there) and I thought Ford might do the best at picking from between a few fast charging options I saw to optimized time.

Ford nav picked a L2 charger, that was further away than the closest fast charger, and wanted me to charge there for 6 hours to get home.

Not a good system.....

trust but verify....ABRP, Plugshare, etc.

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