-
Want to remove ads? Register an account and login to see fewer ads, and become a Supporting Member to remove almost all ads.
Planning a roadtrip, need advice
- Thread starter Poolparty
- Start date
Put your destination into the car’s nav system and go. It will figure out the route and charging. No problem!
ABRP.com will also estimate total charging costs based on charger arrival time and the cost of charging at that time.
RTPEV
Active Member
It's not abrp.com, but abetterrouteplanner.com (although we colloquially call it ABRP).
This is the best planner tool, and once it "learns" you and your car, it's predictions are usually very accurate (note: I don't know if this is a premium feature or not).
That said, the car's navigation has gotten better (I used to find it very pessimistic), so if you wanted to just rely on it, that's good too. But it's nice to have a tool like ABRP to allow you to do what-if like planning on your computer and then easily check out the surrounding areas around the recommended charging stops so if there is a choice (better restaurant options during meal times), you can use that information.
Soul Surfer
Cancervivor, tech geek & musician
Bring your home charger. This thing can save your bacon when you’re stuck nowhere without a charger and sight.
One nice feature of ABRP that I use is the ability to have multiple profiles for your vehicles. In my case, I often carry a bicycle on a roof rack. I have profiles for this as well as the empty roof rack and the basic 'clean' car. By telling ABRP which profile I'm using for each drive, it builds up unique efficiency models for each so that it's planner is more accurate.
Tesla's planner does not allow you to specify when you have something like equipment on a roof rack. So, the initial route planning will be overly optimistic. After a while, the car adjusts, but you need to allow extra energy to get to the first charge stop.
And, sometimes Tesla's route planner gives my unrealistically optimistic estimates even with a clean configuration, so I've learned to cross-check with ABRP, which tends to be pessimistic.
There are plenty of SCs between Boston and Texas, so a Mobile Connector should not be needed unless the destination in Texas is in a remote area. Still, I always bring mine when I travel. And, I bring a CCS adapter as well.
I've driven over 500k miles in Teslas over the last 10 years. Back in early 2014 when I got my first Tesla, I planned road trips as there were few superchargers and if one was out I had to have a plan B. Today I do not plan any more. Just as much as I don't plan gas station stops when I drove gas cars. You just go and charge at any of the hundreds of superchargers you have on your route. The car has a great route planer and shows you when and where to charge and how long you need to charge. You can do that in the Tesla app as well.
I usually don't stick to it as I try to stop at good restaurants or at superchargers that have something to offer rather than whatever would be the ideal route based on charging time or overall time. I think the obsession with trying to get a long road trip optimized to be the fastest is exactly what makes it miserable. Instead of optimizing for shortest time, I try to make the entire trip comfortable and interesting. I stop at interesting sights, I pick good restaurants an the way, I drive in a way that is less stressful, I often have a fun conversation with other Tesla owners at Superchargers, I might take a nap during the day while charging and end up charging more than needed. ... you get the Idea.
I tried ABetterRoutePlanner.com, even payed for the subscription, but I never liked it. It's never accurate, it is way too complicated to use and once I start a trip I find it frustrating to adjust on the fly.
I usually don't stick to it as I try to stop at good restaurants or at superchargers that have something to offer rather than whatever would be the ideal route based on charging time or overall time. I think the obsession with trying to get a long road trip optimized to be the fastest is exactly what makes it miserable. Instead of optimizing for shortest time, I try to make the entire trip comfortable and interesting. I stop at interesting sights, I pick good restaurants an the way, I drive in a way that is less stressful, I often have a fun conversation with other Tesla owners at Superchargers, I might take a nap during the day while charging and end up charging more than needed. ... you get the Idea.
I tried ABetterRoutePlanner.com, even payed for the subscription, but I never liked it. It's never accurate, it is way too complicated to use and once I start a trip I find it frustrating to adjust on the fly.
Boston to Texas has a lot of choice of how you want to get there, so this is really a lot of your preference in here of what states you want to go through and if there are any interesting places you want to see along the way. For a very general big picture, you can see how most routes are covered on this total map:
www.supercharge.info
That's kind of the first glance thing I look at just to see generally if a route I want to go has Supercharger coverage. If it does, then it's fine, and I don't need to do any kind of route planning. It's easy enough just to do it on the fly with the navigation in the car.
All good advice, guys. I've been playing with ABRP. It's what I was looking for. I'm sure the car is great but I didn't want to sit in my car to figure it out.
I found that I can do 120% speed, which was helpful. I want to spend more time charging and less driving, if I can. One thing on the app I can't figure out is editing the stop locations. My issue is I don't like the first recommended charging stop. It's too short a distance from my place. I'm more confident pushing the mileage in populated areas (tri-state/Philly) than in the middle of TN/AR/TX. That and there's one stretch in TN where they want me to go slow. I'd rather take the risk in CT than TN.
The other thing isn't the apps problem. It seems like all the chargers are at malls. How are you guys finding good food within walking distance?
I found that I can do 120% speed, which was helpful. I want to spend more time charging and less driving, if I can. One thing on the app I can't figure out is editing the stop locations. My issue is I don't like the first recommended charging stop. It's too short a distance from my place. I'm more confident pushing the mileage in populated areas (tri-state/Philly) than in the middle of TN/AR/TX. That and there's one stretch in TN where they want me to go slow. I'd rather take the risk in CT than TN.
The other thing isn't the apps problem. It seems like all the chargers are at malls. How are you guys finding good food within walking distance?
If you don't want to use a particular charging site, you can tap the 'X' next to the charger. ABRP will ask if you want to avoid the charger for just that trip or always. Select as appropriate and ABRP will replan the route.
If you are planning to push things, you may need to change the minimum battery level at charging stops. Otherwise, deleting a charge stop may just have ABRP plan a stop at an even closer one!
Also, be sure to mind the maximum speed parameter if you are setting your speed to something like 120% so that ABRP doesn't cut your speed lower than anticipated and underestimate your energy usage.
Similar threads
