Announcing the EV Trip Optimizer for Tesla App

[aesculus]

The app failed to find a route from Sausalito to Weaverville and then locked up.

Also can you try again with today's release V1.1.1. It had some fixes for this in it. It still has some issues in certain circumstances that I would like to validate with the release I am working on.

These out and back trips are harder than what they should be but I am trying to work through the nuances. A bit like a Rubic's Cube.

 

[Boatguy]

iPad Air 2, iOS 10.2.1.

@Joe F : Created a new plan, Sausalito departure, Weaverville destination, out/back. When I hit Optimize I got the screen I posted and the app became unresponsive.

I had previously tried the same thing to Douglas City, and it routed, but I could find no evidence of the "back". Nothing in the trip details showed the charging on the way home.

I just tried it again, and got a route, but no SC stop so arrives in the red. So I deleted the app, and reinstalled. Then I got the attached dialog, and it again locked up.

Could you please post the trip details that shows stops at the Corning SC in both directions?

@BerTX : What's the email address for support?

Don't get me wrong, I want this app to succeed.

BTW, is there a way to re-order waypoints?

 

[Boatguy]

Also can you try again with today's release V1.1.1. It had some fixes for this in it. It still has some issues in certain circumstances that I would like to validate with the release I am working on.

These out and back trips are harder than what they should be but I am trying to work through the nuances. A bit like a Rubic's Cube.

My post above was with version 1.1.1. FWIW, I do not have location services enabled, though there is no reason I know of why the app needs to know my location.

 

[aesculus]

My post above was with version 1.1.1. FWIW, I do not have location services enabled, though there is no reason I know of why the app needs to know my location.

It only needs it if you wanted it to automatically use your current location as an origin.

Share the trip with me and I will use it as a test case to either improve the app or validate that the next release solves your problem.

 

[aesculus]

BTW, is there a way to re-order waypoints?

Yes. In the Trip Summary dialog.

It's a long read but:
Trip Optimizer Tutorial | Digital Auto Guides

There is also some help in each menu.

 

[Boatguy]

[email protected]

Best way is to use the Share feature and send me the trip. Include your car info and a comment about the issue within the email that is created.

I am probably going to create a bug report for the next release that automates this stuff.

OK, where is the "Share" feature? I don't see it in the main menu or the Plan Trip menu.

BTW, the most important feature of a "Help" or "FAQ" facility is "search".

 

[BerTX]

iPad Air 2, iOS 10.2.1.

@Joe F : Created a new plan, Sausalito departure, Weaverville destination, out/back. When I hit Optimize I got the screen I posted and the app became unresponsive.

I had previously tried the same thing to Douglas City, and it routed, but I could find no evidence of the "back". Nothing in the trip details showed the charging on the way home.

I just tried it again, and got a route, but no SC stop so arrives in the red. So I deleted the app, and reinstalled. Then I got the attached dialog, and it again locked up.

Could you please post the trip details that shows stops at the Corning SC in both directions?

@BerTX : What's the email address for support?

Don't get me wrong, I want this app to succeed.

BTW, is there a way to re-order waypoints?

View attachment 219142

[email protected]

You can re-order waypoints by bringing up the Trip Summary and incrementally move the waypoints in the list.

There are a lot of little things like that that are not intuitive, but the app is powerful so I cut them some slack...

Sorry about the Pro version features and round trips -- I can't help with those because I haven't started running Pro or multi yet. I really want to, but haven't learned all of the basic yet.

 

[Joe F]

Docs are a long read, but well worth the time. Both stops at Corning shown in the posted pics. Make sure "my cars" and settings are correct, and default origin SOC set high enough, 90% in my case.

Best to follow @aesculus advise though and share trip with him

 

[aesculus]

OK, where is the "Share" feature? I don't see it in the main menu or the Plan Trip menu.

Main Menu > Current Trips > Share

 

[aesculus]

Make sure "my cars" and settings are correct, and default origin SOC set high enough, 90% in my case.

Also what may frustrate you is that if you make changes in Settings and My Cars, it won't necessarily migrate to existing trips. It's more focused on future trips. You may have to alter the Trip Details and fixed waypoints, and certainly reoptimize.

It's this way to secure the integrity of past trips that you may want to compare with each other.

One of the items I am considering though is having it change the just the current trip. TBD.

 

[BerTX]

OK, where is the "Share" feature? I don't see it in the main menu or the Plan Trip menu.

BTW, the most important feature of a "Help" or "FAQ" facility is "search".

Back to the entry screen (with the picture of the car) and call up the menu there. Choose Current Trips, then from the menu on that page, choose Share Trips. Select the button for the trip from the display, then click Share. You will enter a pin number (of your choosing) and hit Confirm. It will send the trip data as an email to [email protected]

 

[Joe F]

BTW, the most important feature of a "Help" or "FAQ" facility is "search".

You need to read through the tutorial, link is on the main menu too.

 

[Boatguy]

You need to read through the tutorial, link is on the main menu too.

I understand RTFM. I also understand Tesler's "Conservation of Complexity", having wrestled with it most of my career.

This should be a simple app from a UI perspective. Route my car from A to B to C through chargers as necessary. Let me add/delete/re-order waypoints. I'm OK with the manual re-optimize step.

At this point, evtriplanner.com has a better UI, and it's rare than a web app has a better UI than a device app. The UI needs some serious re-design as it is far too modal with way too many dialog boxes/screens. It feels kind of like Windows XP.

In an effort to reset everything I deleted the app, reinstalled, restored purchases, and re-created the routes. No luck. Realizing I had not updated my car, I updated my car, then deleted all the routes. The app crashed.

I re-booted my iPad. Restarted the app, verified my car was correct, and created a new route from scratch as follows:

Sausalito, CA > Mill Valley, CA

Then I added a waypoint (this should be part of the "Plan Route" dialog) for Douglas City, CA. I optimized and got the results in the attached screen shots.

I'd love this work, and spent my $5, but it's not ready for prime time. Please don't shoot the messenger.

And I've sent all this to the support email address. I understand s/w development, I started when I was 16. We'll let this rest for a week and try it again when the next version is available. I'm sure they'll find the next set of problems and work through them.

 

[aesculus]

I'd love this work, and spent my $5, but it's not ready for prime time. Please don't shoot the messenger.

Nobody wants to shoot you and your comments are valid. If I cannot find the issue and fix it in the next release or sooner, I certainly want you to get your $5 back.

It should be able to do a simple trip too. You should only need to put in your origin, destination and any needed waypoints and then press Optimize for a simple trip. The complexity might come from additional features that you may not want or need. In that case the simpler planners are probably much more useful.

But lets see where this goes.

BTW it holds for everyone. If this does not work as we need/want it to, everyone will get their money back. I have no issue with that.

 

[ZBB]

I will review these this week. I think the underlying calculation are correct but it's very possible I have the wrong RM stored and also don't take into effect battery degradation on the Trip Details panel, but do so in the optimization.

I have a question for you two, and others too. Instead of stating Rated Range (remember the app does Imperial and Metric) should we use another term like Altered Range to indicate it is RR offset by degraded battery? I am pretty flexible here and will probably get back a lot of different answers but lets see what you all think.

Thanks for looking at this.

I would vote for using rated range (no need to use RM or RKM since I doubt you want to code labels to change based on imperial or metric selections)... that is in line with what Tesla calls it -- and they just show a lower number at 100% charge (and all other Soc...)

Optionally, you could collect the rated range at 100% charge instead of degradation percent. Might be a simpler for less experienced users...

 

[Joe F]

I understand RTFM.

Sorry, I could have worded it better. A few questions you asked led me to believe you hadn't seen the docs outside of the help menu.

 

[aesculus]

Optionally, you could collect the rated range at 100% charge instead of degradation percent. Might be a simpler for less experienced users...

So you advocate for just showing the ideal RR and not try to change it based on degradation? That is what I favor as I think it would confusing for the number to change from what's published.

If so I just need to update my published numbers.

 

[animorph]

So you advocate for just showing the ideal RR and not try to change it based on degradation? That is what I favor as I think it would confusing for the number to change from what's published.

If so I just need to update my published numbers.

I thought he was saying to enter the range your car currently gives at 100% charge (or 90% might be easier). That would be the degraded number of rated miles. Then we don't have to figure out (current 100% rated miles) / (advertised rated miles) to enter the percent.

 

[Boatguy]

Thanks for looking at this.

I would vote for using rated range (no need to use RM or RKM since I doubt you want to code labels to change based on imperial or metric selections)... that is in line with what Tesla calls it -- and they just show a lower number at 100% charge (and all other Soc...)

Optionally, you could collect the rated range at 100% charge instead of degradation percent. Might be a simpler for less experienced users...

I think that's an excellent suggestion. Have the user enter RM at 90% as that is a number that everyone knows for their car and let the app do the math as needed. It's a good example of the overly complex UI.

Here's another example that just screams Windows. To delete a Trip takes these steps:

Main Menu > Current Trips
Context menu > Delete Trips
Select bubble in trip list
Press Delete button, now at top corner of screen
Press Delete in confirmation box

Alternative UI

Main Menu > Current Trips
Swipe left to reveal context sensitive menu
Confirm deletion

 

[ZBB]

So you advocate for just showing the ideal RR and not try to change it based on degradation? That is what I favor as I think it would confusing for the number to change from what's published.

If so I just need to update my published numbers.

No -- I'm suggesting a different way of asking about degradation. Optional like you have it now, but instead of asking for a percent, asking the rated miles that your car currently gets at a 100% charge. You could compare that to the original rated range provided by tesla for your degradation calculation (so you need to update your published numbers too)

For example, my S60 had an original rated range of 208 miles. I now get 192 on a 100% charge (it's been pretty stable for about a year now -- was 199 nearly 3 years ago).

Regardless of how you do it, the current max range with degradation is critical for your planner (especially for us 60 owners that push our range from time to time...). The trip details info should never exceed the max rated range the car currently has. Right now, the app thinks I have an extra 19 miles of range (211) -- which could get dicey.

We're doing a trip this weekend, so will be comparing the app with the highly trusted EVTripPlanner site...