Optimized charging stations planning

[wpoveromo]

Is there anything Tesla or 3rd party applications / organizations that provide suggestions for charging stations for the most efficient use of time during trips that also takes into considering how long you can wait at each charge? I believe Tesla is working on an integrated way of doing this on the Supercharger network but the majority of drivers (aside from California) won’t have access to them and there’s still a lot of areas they won’t cover but other charging stations exist. I live in Atlanta and often take business trips to Birmingham, AL on I-20.

For example, say there is a 150 mile trip and you are fully charged with a range of 120 miles. And, there is a charging station at your final destination which you have time to leave it. I’m looking for something that shows all the stations, but suggests “don’t stop at the one that is half-way, since it will take 2 hours to charge, but stop at the one that is in 120 miles, charge for 15 minutes to get you 30 more miles then do the full charge at final destination.

I know there are 3rd party organizations and sites that keep track of charging stations but I haven’t found any that calculate the most effective use of time with your trip.

 

[PhilBa]

Well, plugshare comes close to that. You use trip planner and filter the type of chargers.

 

[wpoveromo]

Yup saw this, but it would be cool if there was something that dynamically took into account how much range you have left, location, destination, etc...and maybe showed you the most effective options. For example, "you can stop here for 30 minutes then charge here for 2 hours...." That would be way, way cool.

 

[Rodolfo Paiz]

I'm sure it will come with time, since it truly is a useful idea, but I haven't seen it yet. I'd suggest you request this improvement from anyone who makes the trip-planning or charging software/service you prefer to use... over time, with enough requests, they'll eventually do it. It'll take longer if people don't request it.

 

[PhilBa]

I agree it would be nice. Best would be in the car.

Currently, I don't think recargo and plugshare (soon to be one - replugo?) keeps some details like current and voltage. For example, L2 voltage can range from 204-240 which affects your charging time up to about 20%. Also, there are different available current levels on the SAE (J1772) chargers (most are 30A but 70 or 80 is possible). Clearly a 240V 70A J1772 would be preferable to a 204V 30A one but there doesn't seem to be a way to distinguish.

By the way, you posted the same question in different sections. This is usually frowned upon in most forums. Best to get all the responses in one place.

 

[wpoveromo]

Yeah I was thinking in the car would be best. While watching Musks' shareholder interview he said the car would soon be able to show you the best optimized route by using Schargers though. Also, not sure if that takes into account different time options. I'm thinking Tesla partners up with Google, plugshare, etc...so it's all integrated.

I didn't realize the other post posted until afterward and had decided it was better here.

I agree it would be nice. Best would be in the car.

Currently, I don't think recargo and plugshare (soon to be one - replugo?) keeps some details like current and voltage. For example, L2 voltage can range from 204-240 which affects your charging time up to about 20%. Also, there are different available current levels on the SAE (J1772) chargers (most are 30A but 70 or 80 is possible). Clearly a 240V 70A J1772 would be preferable to a 204V 30A one but there doesn't seem to be a way to distinguish.

By the way, you posted the same question in different sections. This is usually frowned upon in most forums. Best to get all the responses in one place.

 

[DEinspanjer]

I've been using Find your next scenic drive on myscenicdrives.com to plan a trip from NH to Memphis, TN. It doesn't have the specific thing you are asking for regarding automatic charge time comparisons and recommendations, but the developer of the website has put in quite a few nice features for planning an EV road trip.

You can put in the desired travel distance on a full charge, and it will provide todo markers for places where you will need to recharge. You can search for chargers at any point along the trip. I don't know where they get the data, it would be good to beef that up a bit. For instance, it doesn't have SuperChargers in there yet. Whenever you add a waypoint, you can also indicate whether you will be charging and for how long. Based on a recent feature request from me, you can also explicitly indicate how much mileage you will have after that stop so it can compute the next optimal stop properly.