Wondering what those who using ABRP actually use as a process.

[dmurphy]

Yes!!! When we first got Tesla (2013), most users didn't realize that to charge 'full' on a trip was a waste of time as it slows significantly when getting close to full. Effect was, people started charging to "enough with a buffer". and found how relaxing those stops were... usually long enough to do what needs done and then back on the road. No anxiousness, very confident, and refreshed.
That 'extra half hour to fill' was replaced by a 10 minute stop down the road.

Exactly -- once you "get in the groove" of charging, it's just enough to stretch the legs and recharge before the next leg. I couldn't believe just how good I felt after driving all day. A "traditional" car, I would've been wiped on arrival. This way -- I felt ready to go. Impressive!

Great thread, as my wife and I are going to do a 6 or so hour drive to baseball spring training next week. We've plugged in info to ABRP and I was wondering a bit how to go about using it etc. Will now just use the info for the stops and go from there. Thanks all!

I'm jealous. My trip to spring training last year was my last flight before Covid hit. Enjoy it!!

Looks like a nice trip through the rockies! We visited Yellowstone and the Tetons this summer and really enjoyed it. We flew, though so I had a rental car instead of my Telsa.

We got lucky enough to buy our Model X last June, and snagged free Supercharging as an incentive on it. Given Covid, flying anywhere was out, but we felt a road trip could be done fairly safely -- and it was. Trip of a lifetime -- those sights are spectacular, and something everyone should try to do at least once. Just incredible!

Man, 11 mins here and 17 mins there, hardly enough time for a bite to eat or a bathroom break.

Take your time and don't rush back to the car. If you leave with a little "too much" charge, that's no worry at all - just means less at the next stop -- or maybe even skipping the next one altogether. Enjoy the trip!!!

 

[Phlier]

Don't have anything to add that hasn't already been said regarding how to use ABRP.

Just thought I'd throw in a little tidbit...

On the car's browser, keep Tesla Traffic Incidents and Information open. All the goodness of Waze right on the main screen.

Edit: Darn it, the forum software is kinda messing up that link. Let's try this, "teslawaze.azurewebsites.net/"

 

[KenC]

Thanks again everyone.

We are taking our first road trip in a couple of weeks, Saint Charles, MO to Gatlinburg, TN in the Smokies.

The route planned by ABRP is below and looks very easy and straight forward, leaving home with a 100% SOC and arriving with as large as possible a SOC (in this case 79%).

Man, 11 mins here and 17 mins there, hardly enough time for a bite to eat or a bathroom break.



View attachment 641995

I would only add that you don't have to start out with 100% SOC. Looks like your first stop is only 12min, you could start at 90% and that might only increase your first stop 4min, etc. ABRP is good for testing out ideas.

 

[Darmie]

Don't have anything to add that hasn't already been said regarding how to use ABRP.

Just thought I'd throw in a little tidbit...

On the car's browser, keep Tesla Traffic Incidents and Information open. All the goodness of Waze right on the main screen.

Edit: Darn it, the forum software is kinda messing up that link. Let's try this, "teslawaze.azurewebsites.net/"

Has anyone have any issue with the UI when they run this web site? I feel it's very memory intensive and normal use of the screen starts slowing down. sometimes the music starts to skip. Then the web sometimes crashes.

 

[Phlier]

Has anyone have any issue with the UI when they run this web site? I feel it's very memory intensive and normal use of the screen starts slowing down. sometimes the music starts to skip. Then the web sometimes crashes.

It has always worked well for me.

 

[BeerFizz]

I would only add that you don't have to start out with 100% SOC. Looks like your first stop is only 12min, you could start at 90% and that might only increase your first stop 4min, etc. ABRP is good for testing out ideas.

Great idea and allows me to take advantage of regenerative breaking. Starting out at 85% (which is my current limit) I arrive at the first charger with a SOC of 35%, charge for 18 mins to a SOC of 77%.

 

[RayK]

I will use ABRP to plan a long trip, especially when there's specific waypoints that I want to hit or select a particular highway to use (things that the in-car nav can't do yet), but let the car's nav to actually execute the route. It's a bit of a hassle to keep re-programming the next destination in at each waypoint but if you pre-program them before starting the journey, you can simply select the next stop from the history list.

 

[KenC]

Great idea and allows me to take advantage of regenerative breaking. Starting out at 85% (which is my current limit) I arrive at the first charger with a SOC of 35%, charge for 18 mins to a SOC of 77%.

Yep, it allows you to not have to change your normal charging routine, since you only need to charge for a little longer at your first stop. All other stops remain the same.

When you play around with these ideas in ABRP, you realize that, in the future, when supercharger density gets high enough, the larger battery sizes help mostly on the first leg, assuming that charging rates are equally high for all battery sizes, unlike today.

 

[Puma2020]

I use ABRP for planning. I like to see alternate routes and have discovered that some are MUCH cheaper because of the way states require of supercharger sites/rates.
For example, going from New England to Ohio, I can go through NY or PA.
The PA routes is cheaper on supercharging costs ($33) but also avoids the toll road (which sadly, ABRP doesn't care about or add into the costs). NY costs were $54. Certain states are much more expensive than others. The PA route was about 20 minutes longer.

Once I know the route, then the Tesla Navigation handles the actual trip so that the batteries are properly managed.

I also used ABRP to figure out how different EVs would perform on the same trip. That was quite interesting.
Tesla charging costs were $50 and the other cars were from $150 to over $200.
Do that when planning your next trip and you can drive quite smugly knowing how much you are saving!

 

[Michaejones14]

I was looking at ABRP and wondering if there is any benefit in upgrading to a paid version. What do other people do.

 

[dmurphy]

I was looking at ABRP and wondering if there is any benefit in upgrading to a paid version. What do other people do.

Yes …. The real-time weather, traffic and car telemetry are worth it for me. It lets my route calculations get scary-accurate!

 

[KenC]

I was looking at ABRP and wondering if there is any benefit in upgrading to a paid version. What do other people do.

I took a 4400mile trip in August, and subscribed to ABRP. The first 14 days were free, and $5 a month afterward. Even though I returned before the 14 days free were up, I waited to cancel, so the developer would get $5.

Having the wind data, really made the SOC predictions almost perfect. I think I was off by only 1%. Given that there were headwinds up to 16mph, the car's planner, was off by 15%, so the wind data makes a huge difference. With the more precise data, you can make your planning buffer much smaller, so you spend much less time at Superchargers.

 

[acatwith12]

This is exactly what I do too. It's a little annoying but not too bad. I like using Waze anyways

 

[holmgang]

I was looking at ABRP and wondering if there is any benefit in upgrading to a paid version. What do other people do.

I don't find the full featured version necessary. When I do my multi-thousand-KM trips, the variance of the trip duration comes down to discretionary whims e.g. staying longer for lunch than planned. So having pinpoint precision on the trip planning doesn't add any value.

I use ABRP as a blueprint, and do point-to-point driving using the onboard navigation.

 

[Alexgd]

I use ABRP for multi-stop and overnight trips. ABRP will make sure you have enough juice to leave your first stop and get to your next stop, which the built-in NAV will not do.

 

[drtimhill]

As others have also said, I use ABRP as a trip planner for longer trips, especially when I am unsure of the charging needs (e.g. winding or hilly roads). But I use the car nav system to actually direct me to the way points I've figured out using ABRP. I tend NOT to use ABRP to stretch the car to its charging limits, as I'd rather always have a charge reserve in case I decide to deviate a bit from my plans and/or something unexpected happens.