A better route planner? Really?

[Michelle_eriw]

last week I had to go to a meeting about 105 miles from my house; no problem with my Ford Fusion Energi. I checked Tesla's route planner to see whether there would have been any problems with a Model 3 for a round trip. That site needs to be updated because the only Model 3 it shows has a 310 mile range per charge. Anyway, it showed that with that vehicle, there would be no problem, which I expected, even though there were no superchargers enroute.

I was wondering, though, what if I were going to purchase a SR+ instead of the LR I am getting? So I went to A Better Route Planner. I plugged in starting at 100% charge, and ending at 10%. It said that I would arrive with only a 45% charge, so there would not be enough of a charge to get home. It directed me to the only supercharger that was possible, so I could charge for nine minutes, giving me a 43% charge (arriving there with an 11% charge). That added 30 miles, and 45 minutes to my drive, compared to a direct route back.

Why would it show 55% depletion to get to the destination when the distance was only about 42% of the rated mileage of the vehicle?

 

[MorrisonHiker]

last week I had to go to a meeting about 105 miles from my house; no problem with my Ford Fusion Energi. I checked Tesla's route planner to see whether there would have been any problems with a Model 3 for a round trip. That site needs to be updated because the only Model 3 it shows has a 310 mile range per charge. Anyway, it showed that with that vehicle, there would be no problem, which I expected, even though there were no superchargers enroute.

I was wondering, though, what if I were going to purchase a SR+ instead of the LR I am getting? So I went to A Better Route Planner. I plugged in starting at 100% charge, and ending at 10%. It said that I would arrive with only a 45% charge, so there would not be enough of a charge to get home. It directed me to the only supercharger that was possible, so I could charge for nine minutes, giving me a 43% charge (arriving there with an 11% charge). That added 30 miles, and 45 minutes to my drive, compared to a direct route back.

Why would it show 55% depletion to get to the destination when the distance was only about 42% of the rated mileage of the vehicle?

Terrain, speed, weather, traffic and cargo all affect actual mileage.

 

[David L]

The most likely cause is elevation gain. If you click on a point on the route, it'll show the elevation and the instantaneous power use at that point. Or it could be a plethora of other factors, like the previous post mentioned.

 

[RayK]

ABRP has many settings which can affect the route it suggests.

Ah, beaten by @MorrisonHiker

You have to dive down into the settings at the site and play with them. You'll probably have to estimate some.

 

[Michelle_eriw]

Terrain, speed, weather, traffic and cargo all affect actual mileage.

Acknowledged; however, except for speed (which is assumed to be the speed limit), those are unknowns.

Anyway, it makes me happy that I decided to get the LR instead of the SR+.

 

[RayK]

I think (reference) speed can be described as a percentage. If you typically drive a couple of miles per hour over the limit, then use 110 or 115.

For reference consumption, use 270 or 280 if you have a lead foot. 230 to 240 if you're average. A little bit less than that if you're into hypermiling.

 

[MorrisonHiker]

Acknowledged; however, except for speed (which is assumed to be the speed limit), those are unknowns.

Anyway, it makes me happy that I decided to get the LR instead of the SR+.

You can click anywhere along the route and see the elevation changes. You should be able to calculate cargo weight too. If desired, you can use other sites to estimate wind speed, weather, etc.

ABRP has a premium option to take live traffic into account.

Really though, just use as many values as you can. The more accurate your inputs, the better output you get from ABRP.

 

[duanra]

Actually, th

last week I had to go to a meeting about 105 miles from my house; no problem with my Ford Fusion Energi. I checked Tesla's route planner to see whether there would have been any problems with a Model 3 for a round trip. That site needs to be updated because the only Model 3 it shows has a 310 mile range per charge. Anyway, it showed that with that vehicle, there would be no problem, which I expected, even though there were no superchargers enroute.

I was wondering, though, what if I were going to purchase a SR+ instead of the LR I am getting? So I went to A Better Route Planner. I plugged in starting at 100% charge, and ending at 10%. It said that I would arrive with only a 45% charge, so there would not be enough of a charge to get home. It directed me to the only supercharger that was possible, so I could charge for nine minutes, giving me a 43% charge (arriving there with an 11% charge). That added 30 miles, and 45 minutes to my drive, compared to a direct route back.

Why would it show 55% depletion to get to the destination when the distance was only about 42% of the rated mileage

Actually, abetterrouteplanner has a lot of different M3 models.

 

[camalaio]

Acknowledged; however, except for speed (which is assumed to be the speed limit), those are unknowns.

Anyway, it makes me happy that I decided to get the LR instead of the SR+.

The point of ABRP is to use "knowns" or estimations for these where you other route planners (including Tesla) do not.

For example, terrain is known. Going the exact speed limit is not assumed, you can punch in an offset to the speed limit (it actually assumes you're over the limit by default, IIRC). Cargo is another thing you can punch in. Temperature and road conditions (rain/snow) is another thing you can specify, as well as wind.

Besides this, ABRP factors in things Tesla doesn't for navigation. ABRP optimises for total charge time impact, which is why it had you stopping at a low percentage. This usually results in more stops but less time overall than the Tesla nav, which prefers to make fewer stops with more time spent charging.

Tesla nav is a black-box that doesn't let you account for any of these variables. ABRP lets you tune pretty much everything to get an accurate estimate for your trip.

So, the reason for 55% depletion for what seems like 43% of the rated range is precisely due to variables as above. My guess is that you planned with defaults, so it's mostly assuming you're going a bit over the speed limit and factoring in elevation changes. The "rated" range is only in reference to the rating environment, which doesn't account for a net elevation increase nor faster highway travel.

EDIT: Having used ABRP in adverse conditions in varying highways and mountain passes, I can really attest to its shocking accuracy with even rough estimations of conditions, especially in comparison to the Tesla route planner which is much too optimistic in adverse conditions in my experience. You do need to punch in your expectations though, it isn't magic.

 

[Michelle_eriw]

I think (reference) speed can be described as a percentage. If you typically drive a couple of miles per hour over the limit, then use 110 or 115.

For reference consumption, use 270 or 280 if you have a lead foot. 230 to 240 if you're average. A little bit less than that if you're into hypermiling.

I typically drive at or 5MPH below the speed limit, depending on traffic and weather conditions. E.g., if there'e heavy traffic at the speed limit, I'll drive the limit. If there's light traffic, and I can afford the time, I'll drive 5 MPH below the limit.

 

[Michelle_eriw]

Actually, th



Actually, abetterrouteplanner has a lot of different M3 models.

I know, and I used the SR+ RWD because that's the base model offered on menu.

 

[Michelle_eriw]

The point of ABRP is to use "knowns" or estimations for these where you other route planners (including Tesla) do not.

For example, terrain is known. Going the exact speed limit is not assumed, you can punch in an offset to the speed limit (it actually assumes you're over the limit by default, IIRC). Cargo is another thing you can punch in. Temperature and road conditions (rain/snow) is another thing you can specify, as well as wind.

Besides this, ABRP factors in things Tesla doesn't for navigation. ABRP optimises for total charge time impact, which is why it had you stopping at a low percentage. This usually results in more stops but less time overall than the Tesla nav, which prefers to make fewer stops with more time spent charging.

Tesla nav is a black-box that doesn't let you account for any of these variables. ABRP lets you tune pretty much everything to get an accurate estimate for your trip.

So, the reason for 55% depletion for what seems like 43% of the rated range is precisely due to variables as above. My guess is that you planned with defaults, so it's mostly assuming you're going a bit over the speed limit and factoring in elevation changes. The "rated" range is only in reference to the rating environment, which doesn't account for a net elevation increase nor faster highway travel.

EDIT: Having used ABRP in adverse conditions in varying highways and mountain passes, I can really attest to its shocking accuracy with even rough estimations of conditions, especially in comparison to the Tesla route planner which is much too optimistic in adverse conditions in my experience. You do need to punch in your expectations though, it isn't magic.

So, it's not really valuable for advance planning; I would have to wait until shortly before I leave so I can take weather and etc. into account.

 

[camalaio]

So, it's not really valuable for advance planning; I would have to wait until shortly before I leave so I can take weather and etc. into account.

It's absolutely useful still. For example, if I were to plan for a trip in February right now, I would know to plug in a temperature probably below freezing (at least for anywhere within 4000km of where I live!). I also know that, if that destination was the US (I live in Canada), I would absolutely not go over the speed limit, so I would make sure ABRP is set to the speed limit. I also probably have a good idea of extra cargo capacity since I would know the purpose/length of my trip and approximately how much I'm packing.

You don't need exact values for it to provide better planning. A general accommodation gives you a much better plan than assuming "rated conditions".

 

[BLW2]

no superchargers.....any charge points or other EV charge stations that could top off a bit to optimize the trip?

 

[Ruffles]

The biggest value I find in ABRP is the ability to plan multiple waypoints and return trips. With the Tesla Nav, it plans for you to arrive to your destination with about 10%. When you leave your destination to return (or go elsewhere) that 10% might not be enough to get you to the next super charger. I use ABRP to plan for that situation so I know if I need to stay longer at my last charging stop to be able to continue my trip.

 

[Michelle_eriw]

The biggest value I find in ABRP is the ability to plan multiple waypoints and return trips. With the Tesla Nav, it plans for you to arrive to your destination with about 10%. When you leave your destination to return (or go elsewhere) that 10% might not be enough to get you to the next super charger. I use ABRP to plan for that situation so I know if I need to stay longer at my last charging stop to be able to continue my trip.

Do you mean the nav system in the vehicle? The online nav allows waypoints. And every car I've owned that has a nav system has allowed waypoints.

 

[Ruffles]

Do you mean the nav system in the vehicle? The online nav allows waypoints. And every car I've owned that has a nav system has allowed waypoints.

Yes. The in car Nav in my 2016 Model X with AP1 only allowed a single destination. Is that different on newer cars?

 

[Michelle_eriw]

no superchargers.....any charge points or other EV charge stations that could top off a bit to optimize the trip?

None that were near my destination according to plugshare.com

 

[Michelle_eriw]

Yes. The in car Nav in my 2016 Model X with AP1 only allowed a single destination. Is that different on newer cars?

I don't know, but my 2001 Acura, 2004 Prius, 2016 and 2019 Ford Fusions all had provisions for waypoints in their nav systems.

 

[RayK]

Tesla in-car navigation has not yet allowed entry of waypoints in planning your route. ABRP does.

edit: It does suggest Supercharger stops along your route but there's no way to manually enter more than one destination (stop) per route. So if you're planning a 1,000 mile trip, it will tell you where you can charge. But if you want to visit several places along a long journey, it would not do that. ABRP does.