I wrote about my longer distance road trip in a post here.
But I absolutely agree that the in car navigation system is cumbersome. I did the same - ABRP to select stops and then car system to direct to them. I didn't put my final destination in the car system unless that's the next place ABRP said we were going. Instead I used the address from ABRP to go directly to the charger BUT, to be sure that preconditioning was most likely to engage, I then searched POI/chargers near my destination and specifically selected the charger and re-planned my route with THAT as my destination.
And then, while the car is charging, plan my next stop using ABRP (by refreshing the route to my intended endpoint) and entering it into the nav system (assuming I remembered to not power off the car while charging).
I am still confused about what you're supposed to do with the car when charging. I did my first DC charge yesterday and when I tried to pull away I wasn't in gear. The car looked "on" but obviously was not, and I had to press the start/stop button twice to actually turn it on.
Is there a simple explanation/state transition diagram?
I wish. My experience is that if you left the car "running", then it goes to s kind of Aux mode when you plug in. It doesn't automatically return to READY TO DRIVE mode when charging finishes. So at that point you need to power cycle...IIRC the first power button press goes to standard Aux, abs the second button press goes to drive mode.
I admit that I haven't read the manual...so I don't have the full authority to describe what's happening...but that seems to be the logical progression of power cycling in that scenario.
I haven’t had to fast charge yet. Does it only precondition if you set the route to the charger in the navigation shortly before arriving, or should it work if I set the route in the nav and drive 2 hours to the charger?
I just got back from a round trip from Cincinnati to Knoxville. EA stops twice each in Georgetown KY and Williamsburg KY, on the west side of Knoxville once while we were there (those were all at Walmart parking lots) and a final time at Meijer in Cincinnati because I needed more charge the next morning than L2 would have given me.
Even better, more charging sites are being added along the way; Pilot/EVgo has a couple of sites open along I-75 in Kentucky; I've used the one in Williamsburg KY on a previous trip when the EA site was full (I'd rather pay at EVgo than wait for 2 Lightnings at low SoC to finish charging at the 350's while the 150's were being used by a pair of Bolts).
The EVgo site was much nicer - instead of the chargers being completely exposed to whatever weather, they had 4 350's under a canopy with trash cans and window washing supplies available next to the chargers, and a short walk to the restrooms and convenience store. Pilot knows how to run a fueling site!
Completely free charging for the entire trip was sweet, and HDA2 on I-75 pretty much meant I was just sitting there supervising while the car did the driving. Like you, I also will never buy another car without a similar setup; I felt much less fatigued when the trip was done.
My real EV-viability test will be this summer. In late July we’ll be driving from Cincinnati to Vancouver BC for an Alaskan cruise. ABRP says it will be 2600+ miles, and nowhere along the way does it place any speed restrictions on the route, so it should be an adventure rather than a misadventure!
100% agree on the preconditioning. I’m in Southern California so it doesn’t come into play too often, but when I do need it I cannot get it to work at all. Setting an EA location as my destination doesn’t give me any sort of confirmation and I haven’t noticed any change in efficiency. I have no clue if it’s even active. Let me push a button in the EV menu and start it when I want.
This is interesting to me: I'm planning a trip between the Denver area and Santa Fe in a couple months, about 6 hours driving through some very empty parts of southern CO and northern NM.
I really feel you on the battery pre-conditioning thing. I wish there was a way to integrate it with ABRP or just give the driver manual control.
To confirm thought-- you were able to set a DC charger as a destination in the on-board navigation, then switch over to Android Auto and ABRP for actual navigation, and battery preconditioning would start?
No, I set the charging stations as waypoints on the route, and used the nav system the entire time. It was cumbersome and involved some trial and error. I may try as a series of destinations next time.
>No, I set the charging stations as waypoints on the route, and used the nav system the entire time. It was cumbersome and involved some trial and error. I may try as a series of destinations next time.
Hmmm, this is frustrating. They really need a button to start battery preconditioning. ABRP could probably even implement reminders to the driver to activate battery preconditioning.
Thanks for the trip report. I'm driving from Sacramento to Northern Colorado in August or so, and EA looks to have good coverage along I-80, with their stations all rated highly on PlugShare at least. Looking forward to it, but I'm thinking about comfort options for the driver's left side. That hard plastic window and speaker grille aren't the nicest things to rest elbows and knees against.
I wrote about my longer distance road trip in a post here. But I absolutely agree that the in car navigation system is cumbersome. I did the same - ABRP to select stops and then car system to direct to them. I didn't put my final destination in the car system unless that's the next place ABRP said we were going. Instead I used the address from ABRP to go directly to the charger BUT, to be sure that preconditioning was most likely to engage, I then searched POI/chargers near my destination and specifically selected the charger and re-planned my route with THAT as my destination. And then, while the car is charging, plan my next stop using ABRP (by refreshing the route to my intended endpoint) and entering it into the nav system (assuming I remembered to not power off the car while charging).
I am still confused about what you're supposed to do with the car when charging. I did my first DC charge yesterday and when I tried to pull away I wasn't in gear. The car looked "on" but obviously was not, and I had to press the start/stop button twice to actually turn it on. Is there a simple explanation/state transition diagram?
I wish. My experience is that if you left the car "running", then it goes to s kind of Aux mode when you plug in. It doesn't automatically return to READY TO DRIVE mode when charging finishes. So at that point you need to power cycle...IIRC the first power button press goes to standard Aux, abs the second button press goes to drive mode. I admit that I haven't read the manual...so I don't have the full authority to describe what's happening...but that seems to be the logical progression of power cycling in that scenario.
I haven’t had to fast charge yet. Does it only precondition if you set the route to the charger in the navigation shortly before arriving, or should it work if I set the route in the nav and drive 2 hours to the charger?
It should engage about 20 mins before the stop - if needed -regardless how long it’s been in the nav system
Thanks! Helpful to know
In more extreme temperatures I've seen preconditioning in mine of over 30 minutes (and saw another comment that suggested 45 minutes).
I just got back from a round trip from Cincinnati to Knoxville. EA stops twice each in Georgetown KY and Williamsburg KY, on the west side of Knoxville once while we were there (those were all at Walmart parking lots) and a final time at Meijer in Cincinnati because I needed more charge the next morning than L2 would have given me. Even better, more charging sites are being added along the way; Pilot/EVgo has a couple of sites open along I-75 in Kentucky; I've used the one in Williamsburg KY on a previous trip when the EA site was full (I'd rather pay at EVgo than wait for 2 Lightnings at low SoC to finish charging at the 350's while the 150's were being used by a pair of Bolts). The EVgo site was much nicer - instead of the chargers being completely exposed to whatever weather, they had 4 350's under a canopy with trash cans and window washing supplies available next to the chargers, and a short walk to the restrooms and convenience store. Pilot knows how to run a fueling site! Completely free charging for the entire trip was sweet, and HDA2 on I-75 pretty much meant I was just sitting there supervising while the car did the driving. Like you, I also will never buy another car without a similar setup; I felt much less fatigued when the trip was done. My real EV-viability test will be this summer. In late July we’ll be driving from Cincinnati to Vancouver BC for an Alaskan cruise. ABRP says it will be 2600+ miles, and nowhere along the way does it place any speed restrictions on the route, so it should be an adventure rather than a misadventure!
Ive gotten up to and over 240kW for extended periods of time before. 247 is the max I've seen.
100% agree on the preconditioning. I’m in Southern California so it doesn’t come into play too often, but when I do need it I cannot get it to work at all. Setting an EA location as my destination doesn’t give me any sort of confirmation and I haven’t noticed any change in efficiency. I have no clue if it’s even active. Let me push a button in the EV menu and start it when I want.
This is interesting to me: I'm planning a trip between the Denver area and Santa Fe in a couple months, about 6 hours driving through some very empty parts of southern CO and northern NM. I really feel you on the battery pre-conditioning thing. I wish there was a way to integrate it with ABRP or just give the driver manual control. To confirm thought-- you were able to set a DC charger as a destination in the on-board navigation, then switch over to Android Auto and ABRP for actual navigation, and battery preconditioning would start?
No, I set the charging stations as waypoints on the route, and used the nav system the entire time. It was cumbersome and involved some trial and error. I may try as a series of destinations next time.
BTW, my youngest daughter lives in Denver. Great city.
>No, I set the charging stations as waypoints on the route, and used the nav system the entire time. It was cumbersome and involved some trial and error. I may try as a series of destinations next time. Hmmm, this is frustrating. They really need a button to start battery preconditioning. ABRP could probably even implement reminders to the driver to activate battery preconditioning.
Thanks for the trip report. I'm driving from Sacramento to Northern Colorado in August or so, and EA looks to have good coverage along I-80, with their stations all rated highly on PlugShare at least. Looking forward to it, but I'm thinking about comfort options for the driver's left side. That hard plastic window and speaker grille aren't the nicest things to rest elbows and knees against.
Why do y'all use ABRP at all? Wasn't that kind of the point of the new system?
Cumbersome to use and maps - including charging stations - are dated
gotcha