Tesla vs External Route Planners

[FMinMI]

We are getting ready to do our first 'long' trip (350 miles) and have a question of the Tesla route planner versus the other two major ones (A Better Trip Planner and EVTrip Planner). I did a search but didn't find any recent information...

So, we are driving from mid Michigan to Dayton next month and now that I got my 75kW pack unlocked (60D originally, 2019.8.5 update) I wanted to see what the Tesla Nav said to do. I had just charged to 100% when I did this and said to route me to the Dayton SC (want to fill up before arriving at the final destination as there is no charge option there). It showed the expected route (I75 to US23 to I475 then back on I75) with a single stop in Ann Arbor MI (50 minute charge) with 12% remaining there and 10% when we get to the Dayton SC.

I then used both of the external web based planner and was amazed at the difference. First, they both asked a lot of very pertinent questions like expected driving speed, weight in vehicle, inside and outside temp, expected wind speed, etc. Both then showed the desired route (although A Better Trip Planner took me the wrong/longer way until I corrected it) and they had me stopping at 4 SC along the way for much shorter time periods (10-25 minutes) with both trying to keep my pack in the sweet spot of SOC (I did put in that I wanted to arrive with at least 20% at time for SCing).

For those of you who have taken many long trips, do you trust the Tesla one?

Is there a way to tell it to leave a little more buffer than 10%? (I have gotten a screen notice about low battery even when it was at 20%; how do they justify routing you with it going down to 10%?)

If the car sees it has screwed up (battery level is not going to make it) does it reroute you? or tell you to slow down?

Do you run with Range Mode On for long trips?

Thanks for any insight....

 

[jerry33]

I use EVtripplanner and google maps to plan the trip. No one sits in the car to plan a trip.

During the trip, I just use the display.

For a short trip (like 350 miles) I just get in and drive--actually the same for long trips except that for long trips the hotels or B&B need to be scheduled. Navigate to each SC in turn. Don't take the planning apps as gospel because local weather conditions can change their estimates quickly. Use the trip graph to determine how well (or poorly) you're doing.

Don't bother with range mode unless you have an AWD, where range mode shuts off one motor.

The car will give a warning such as "Keep speed below 65 mph to arrive at your destination".

Start with charging until the trip graph line is all green. Once you get used to your car you can charge to less.

 

[AltairIV]

2017 MS 100D here. I've made several DFW, TX to/from P'cola, FL (~675 miles) round trips. I use the onboard Telsa planner. Yes, I trust it...but verified it via some other planners on my 1st trip. I don't know of a way to increase the SC arrival buffer. I've done the FL trip enough times now to know the range impact of really cold weather (relatively speaking). I've never reached a point when the car told me to slow down or risk meeting a flatbed driver. Yes, I turn on Range Mode and turn off Always On (bunch of existing threads/drama on these settings).

So far, I've really enjoyed my road trips. If I'm not out and about stretching my legs during a charge, I'm reading or napping. I keep one of those nerdy neck pillows in the car.

Enjoy your trip!

 

[Uncle Paul]

The on board display will give predicted range and duration with good accuracy. In addition it will re-calculate along the way, taking into conditions that you are experiencing. If you drive fast, it will begin to drop your range and duration. It will adjust on the fly, and give you running predictions of which Superchargers you should use, the amount of time you could expect to stay there, plus the time and remaining % charge you will have remaining when you reach your next destination.

If you have headwinds, drive fast, have elevation changes, encounter rain etc, it will constantly make adjustments. It will tell you to slow down or even recaluclate a different route if it sees congestion ahead...a pretty smart system.

It will still be up to the human driver to take into consideration the suggestions of the computer, and make your own educated routing and speeds as you travel.

 

[doghousePVD]

I use ABRP, Tesla and Plugshare. Each has their benefits and uses, none are perfect.

ABRP is best for long distance planning, especially deleting stops, other waypoints, editing starting and ending energy desires, etc. Tesla is easy and good when strictly going or finding the next Supercharger. Plugshare is good for alternatives, like J-1772.

The key metric to watch on Tesla is % Energy at destination. Plan your route and note how much energy you should have when you arrive. This is shown at the very bottom of the driving directions. Let's say it's 15%. I generally see it rise while driving, so I am confident I will make it to my destination. If is falling, and is getting down to 10%, I start looking for alternatives (charging, driving slower, less heat, etc.)

Tesla definitely will give you messages to slow down. I think they are very conservative. Always giving yourself a 20% buffer for every charging stop seems overkill, unless there is snow, very cold weather, headwinds, monstrous traffic jams, or other externality. It's a judgment call.

"Trust?" I am not sure what you mean. Different tools for different tasks - do you trust your hammer or your screwdriver?

Just got back from 4,000 mile trip New England to Miami. Wonderful. Don't stress out, and have fun.

BTW, I haven't ever tried Range Mode On.

 

[Silicon Desert]

Agree with all the above. Good advice. As for me, maybe I need to recalibrate what I think is a long trip. Mine are 2,000 miles or more For me, 350 is a half-day trip and I don't bother with any trip planners unless I'm looking for a hotel or something special. The issue I've found with trip planners is that they don't accurately account for conditions that change at the time, like wind, actual speed you will travel instead of predicted speed, battery temperature, and other factors. The Tesla does that on the fly of course.

 

[Tesomega]

I have used ABRP. I always plan for the days destination + enough to reach the next supercharger or destination charger to make the best use of time.

 

[cpa]

I have not used the Tesla route planner other than to fool around and see what it says. What I have found is that it tries to calculate the absolute most efficient routing and charging stops based upon the current state of your battery at that particular moment in time and the availability of Superchargers along your route. It must use some sort of generally accepted driving style and speed to make these determinations. These calculations are ignorant of external conditions like weather, but do consider elevation gains and losses, as those are constant.

Moreover, it does not factor in the timing of one's stops and what the driver wishes to accomplish during the charging stops. For example, someone might wish to drive from Seattle to San Diego down Interstate 5. The hypothetical routing might have the driver charge in Gustine for 40 minutes, then charge again at Buttonwillow for 35 minutes before crossing the Grapevine and charging at Santa Clarita. (I am making this all up as an illustration.)

Well, there is not a whole lot to do at Gustine, nor is there much more at Buttonwillow. Furthermore, Santa Clarita is about a ten-minute detour off and back onto Interstate 5. It might make more sense to charge less at Gustine, then either stop for lunch at Harris Ranch or avail yourself of the 40-stall Supercharger and nifty lounge at Kettleman City and charge enough to reach Tejon Ranch before crossing over the Grapevine and charging in Burbank or elsewhere.

 

[TexasEV]

Is there a way to tell it to leave a little more buffer than 10%? .

Of course. Just continue supercharging until your estimated charge at destination is 15% or 20%, or whatever margin you want.

 

[FMinMI]

Of course. Just continue supercharging until your estimated charge at destination is 15% or 20%, or whatever margin you want.

So you are saying while on the Tesla router, once you stop to charge (say at your first SC on the route) you can look at the next SC stop and it shows what your SOC will be when you get there, and it 'goes up' as you charge? Just out of curiosity, when you first start charging does it show negative charge which goes up to zero and then positive? Or does it just show 0 (or blank)?

 

[jerry33]

So you are saying while on the Tesla router, once you stop to charge (say at your first SC on the route) you can look at the next SC stop and it shows what your SOC will be when you get there, and it 'goes up' as you charge? Just out of curiosity, when you first start charging does it show negative charge which goes up to zero and then positive? Or does it just show 0 (or blank)?

Set your next stop in the Nav system. Remove any intermediate charging stops. Start charging. Then bring up the trip graph. The line will show green, yellow, red, and black. Charge until you feel comfortable. I'd suggest on your first trip charge so that the entire line is green (should be about 25%). After a few times you can charge a bit less as you get comfortable with the car. It shows the percentage, positive or negative.

 

[ewoodrick]

I consider all of the routing engines as only advisors. They can help you, they can verify, and the onboard can monitor you. But you are the driver, you need to make the decisions.

For me, the "routed" route is only a suggest. First, I check the maps for the location of all the Superchargers along the way. This is both because something may go wrong and also because I like to stray and enjoy the route at times.
Next, I look at the stops and plan biology along the way. If I suspect that I need to take a pit break around 2 hours, then is there a Supercharger that makes sense? If I know that I'm going to want lunch around noon, does it make sense to eat and charge at the same time? Does one Supercharger have better meal options than another one.

And as to the last charging stop, I try to think about how I'm arriving. I often don't want to arrive on 10-20% when I know that I don't have local charging options, but don't mind it if I do. If I don't have options, I'll hang on to that last charger a little longer to make sure that I have some breathing room.

And at your destination, don't discount 120V charging. In Ft Lauderdale, over the course of a week, even with around town driving, we managed to slowly charge from 10% to 90% by charging off of 120V 15A at the valet parking. In this case, I wasn't worried since there was a Supercharger 10 miles away, but I never had to visit it.

With just a little bit of prior planning, you can make the charging a non-impacting part of your trip. In our trip from Atlanta to Ft Lauderdale, charging only added about 30 minutes to the entire trip, mainly because we thought we'd make a late night stop and charge for about 10 minutes on the long last segment before getting home. Well, food was closed and it took to long to figure this out.

Also, do be aware that your charging stops may not be symmetrical coming and going. By starting out each direction at 100%, this generally allows you to miss a stop that you may need going the other direction.

And to a specific answer to your question, they are all right, but they aren't perfect and they aren't you.

Have a great trip!

 

[terrywhite]

I have found the nav in my MS to be the most accurate. Every time I try a 3rd party planner they always have me making more stops than I actually need. I use them to get an idea, but 100% of the time the car is better. YMMV

 

[jerry33]

I have found the nav in my MS to be the most accurate. Every time I try a 3rd party planner they always have me making more stops than I actually need. I use them to get an idea, but 100% of the time the car is better. YMMV

There are a few places where the stops are 50 miles apart (mostly in the mountains or high population areas). In good weather you can skip those. 100 to 150 miles apart, it's faster to stop at each one for 15 minutes, rather than skipping and stopping for 45+ minutes.

 

[FMinMI]

Set your next stop in the Nav system. Remove any intermediate charging stops. Start charging. Then bring up the trip graph. The line will show green, yellow, red, and black. Charge until you feel comfortable. I'd suggest on your first trip charge so that the entire line is green (should be about 25%). After a few times you can charge a bit less as you get comfortable with the car. It shows the percentage, positive or negative.

Hmmm. Sorry, but I am dense and not following what to do.

So for my route I did Bay City MI to Dayton OH SC. It shows just one stop in Ann Arbor MI for 50 minutes as my car was starting at 100%. So are you saying that knowing this, I should put only Ann Arbor as my destination and once I get there and start charging, then bring up the NAV again, this time putting in Dayton OH SC and on the screen there will be some sort of colored bar somewhere on the screen? Or will the actual route be colored black then red then yellow then green as I charge?

Thanks

 

[BlueRocket]

Of course. Just continue supercharging until your estimated charge at destination is 15% or 20%, or whatever margin you want.

I use EV

We are getting ready to do our first 'long' trip (350 miles) and have a question of the Tesla route planner versus the other two major ones (A Better Trip Planner and EVTrip Planner). I did a search but didn't find any recent information...

So, we are driving from mid Michigan to Dayton next month and now that I got my 75kW pack unlocked (60D originally, 2019.8.5 update) I wanted to see what the Tesla Nav said to do. I had just charged to 100% when I did this and said to route me to the Dayton SC (want to fill up before arriving at the final destination as there is no charge option there). It showed the expected route (I75 to US23 to I475 then back on I75) with a single stop in Ann Arbor MI (50 minute charge) with 12% remaining there and 10% when we get to the Dayton SC.

I then used both of the external web based planner and was amazed at the difference. First, they both asked a lot of very pertinent questions like expected driving speed, weight in vehicle, inside and outside temp, expected wind speed, etc. Both then showed the desired route (although A Better Trip Planner took me the wrong/longer way until I corrected it) and they had me stopping at 4 SC along the way for much shorter time periods (10-25 minutes) with both trying to keep my pack in the sweet spot of SOC (I did put in that I wanted to arrive with at least 20% at time for SCing).

For those of you who have taken many long trips, do you trust the Tesla one?

Is there a way to tell it to leave a little more buffer than 10%? (I have gotten a screen notice about low battery even when it was at 20%; how do they justify routing you with it going down to 10%?)

If the car sees it has screwed up (battery level is not going to make it) does it reroute you? or tell you to slow down?

Do you run with Range Mode On for long trips?

Thanks for any insight....

I use EVTrip Optimizer. It uses local weather conditions and allows you to set specifics for your car, add way points, change default SChs, etc. It has been pretty accurate once you set your "fudge factor" that basically reflects your driving style and "over the limit" speed you normally drive. There is a free version that would work well for your 350 mile trip or a monthly or annual subscription with additional features to fit any longer travel requirements. It recognizes destination chargers so you can include those in the route as a way point. We travel from NJ to WI with an overnight stop at a B&B outside of Cleveland and the planner has worked well (with an ounce of common sense).

 

[FMinMI]

There are a few places where the stops are 50 miles apart (mostly in the mountains or high population areas). In good weather you can skip those. 100 to 150 miles apart, it's faster to stop at each one for 15 minutes, rather than skipping and stopping for 45+ minutes.

When we drive it is usually for 1.5 hours at which point my wife and I swap driving just for sanity's sake and a quick break (usually using a rest stop). I like the idea of stopping more frequently so long as it is not off the highway too much. Will have to look at each SC location and figure out how bad the detour will be. Thanks.

 

[TexasEV]

So you are saying while on the Tesla router, once you stop to charge (say at your first SC on the route) you can look at the next SC stop and it shows what your SOC will be when you get there, and it 'goes up' as you charge? Just out of curiosity, when you first start charging does it show negative charge which goes up to zero and then positive? Or does it just show 0 (or blank)?

Exactly. At the bottom of the turn by turn navigation window there is a battery icon with percentage next to it— that’s your estimated charge on arrival at the next stop, either the next supercharger on route or your final destination if that’s your next stop. Yes when you first start supercharging it will be a negative number (unless you already had enough charge to reach the next supercharger). It increases as you charge. Leave when you’re comfortable with the estimated SOC at your next stop, not necessarily when the car tells you it has enough charge to leave.

This is useful when driving also and you don’t even need to look on the trip planner app for the information — your estimated SOC at the next stop always shows at the bottom of the turn by turn window as you’re driving. If I see it’s dropping towards 10% I slow down, unless I’m within 50 miles or so of the supercharger.

 

[KArnold]

I've done the trip from Bay City to Columbus, OH many times. I prefer ABRP. When I put in BC to the Dayton airport using a MS75, it seems to route properly. Plus it recommends the Maumee SC instead of Ann Arbor, which makes sense. The Ann Arbor SC is about 10 miles off US-23 each way - Maumee is a better choice if you can get there.

I use ABRP for planning but the Tesla nav for in car navigation.

 

[jerry33]

Hmmm. Sorry, but I am dense and not following what to do.

So for my route I did Bay City MI to Dayton OH SC. It shows just one stop in Ann Arbor MI for 50 minutes as my car was starting at 100%. So are you saying that knowing this, I should put only Ann Arbor as my destination and once I get there and start charging, then bring up the NAV again, this time putting in Dayton OH SC and on the screen there will be some sort of colored bar somewhere on the screen? Or will the actual route be colored black then red then yellow then green as I charge?

Thanks

Let me try again.

You will likely know the next stop (not the final destination). Set the Nav to that stop. Sometimes it will show an intermediate stop (the SC you are at). Get rid of that one. If there are any other SCs between you and the next SC you want to charge at, get rid of those as well.

Select the trip graph from the menu (the one where the camera is). It will show your current SOC, the estimated SOC at your destination (or at the furthest you can travel and a line between the two. It will likely be negative and the line will be green to yellow to red to black as it gets closer to zero percent battery left. As you charge, the line will get further out and the other colours will go away. Eventually the line will become all green.

This is not on the actual map, only on the trip graph.

TexasEV is right that you don't necessarily have to look at the trip graph, but as a first time user, I believe it will help you understand the process.