-
Want to remove ads? Register an account and login to see fewer ads, and become a Supporting Member to remove almost all ads.
Navigation newb question re:supercharging stops
- Thread starter LonestarV
- Start date
-
- Tags
- navigation Supercharging
RTPEV
Active Member
Since a different thread I started doesn't seem to be getting much traction...another newbie Supercharging question:
What does your typical workflow look like when on a road trip? We recently went across the state and the car said it could make it to our destination just fine (with 14% upon arrival), but I really wanted to stop at a Supercharger en route so I would have more buffer and not have to plug in as soon as we arrived. Not to mention we personally needed to stop! Of course I knew approximately where the Superchargers were, but it would have been nice to have a list of "optional" stops pop up with distance and estimated arrival SOC and be able to select one and navigate to it. Is there a way to do this from the nav system or am I on my own to research and plan stops? If we start to feel the call of nature, it would be nice to see how far out the next Supercharger is.
Also, when a SC is on the map you can click on it and get some nice info pop up like how many stalls are available, but it doesn't seem to be easy to do this from the turn by turn display that shows the SC stop. Again, am I missing something?
What does your typical workflow look like when on a road trip? We recently went across the state and the car said it could make it to our destination just fine (with 14% upon arrival), but I really wanted to stop at a Supercharger en route so I would have more buffer and not have to plug in as soon as we arrived. Not to mention we personally needed to stop! Of course I knew approximately where the Superchargers were, but it would have been nice to have a list of "optional" stops pop up with distance and estimated arrival SOC and be able to select one and navigate to it. Is there a way to do this from the nav system or am I on my own to research and plan stops? If we start to feel the call of nature, it would be nice to see how far out the next Supercharger is.
Also, when a SC is on the map you can click on it and get some nice info pop up like how many stalls are available, but it doesn't seem to be easy to do this from the turn by turn display that shows the SC stop. Again, am I missing something?
I will be interested to see others' answers to your questions as well. In my experience you have to plug in a SC manually. Sometimes I look at PlugShare in parallel to what Nav suggests to see other possibilities. I will also warn you that if you happen to be driving more efficiently than the car predicts, Nav may update and remove a previously planned charging stop. That happened to me a week ago on (ironically) a trip to your area. I watched as Nav deleted a charging stop, showing a straight drive to the Raleigh SC with a 6% balance on arrival. I manually inserted South Hill into Nav to override it.
As others have noted, I usually add more charge than it says I need because unforseen things can and often do happen.
For long trips, I use EV Trip Planner and figure out where and when I want to stop. I tend to not even bother with the car's trip planner since I find it doesn't leave me with enough margin. You kinda have to know your route a bit too. Rain and winds will dramatically affect range, as will cold temperatures. As will big elevations changes (the trip planners should take that into account). I like to have 50% over coverage on range for a trip leg. ie, if it is a 150 mile leg, then I'd want 225 miles of range. I can't always get that, or be patient enough for that, but that's my ideal. If I'm driving a leg I know well in good weather conditions, then I can and have cut it a lot closer than that. Also you have to take into account how fast you drive. The car's trip planner assumes something 70 MPH. I like to drive 85 on long trips, and that also dramatically affects range.
I do use the car's trip planner while I'm driving to see where I'll end up on range. If I'm cutting it close, I can look at the graph over time and see how fast the % range remaining drops over time. It takes about 10-20 miles of driving before the graph settles into something stable. I've had trips where my destination range remaining would hover around 5% and sometime dip negative. In those cases, I will moderate my driving speed until it stabilizes around a few percent. Drafting for a while 2-3 seconds behind a transport truck will dramatically increase your range estimate if you are desperate.
RTPEV
Active Member
I like A Better Routeplanner It can log into your car and get real time position, SOC, historical efficiency, etc. for your vehicle. It has settings for the speed you like to drive, extra cargo weight, weather (temp, rain, winds) so it can do a pretty bang-up job on estimating range. And it's even made to run in the Tesla web browser, which unfortunately the Model 3 does not have, so I'm stuck with using my phone. Plus it still doesn't quite have the funcionality I'm looking for, which is to display upcoming superchargers and navigate using a simple click.
Yes, I could run it on my phone and then use its built-in navigation, but hoping for a solution using the main screen.
Or maybe a future s/w update will include a web browser for the Model 3.
As for in-car efficiency, the car already underestimates that in my case. My car is extremely slippery on the highway. I got 199 Wh/mile on a return trip despite trying to keep up with some friends in a different car that were driving WAY faster than I'm used to. That kind of efficiency is just mad!
Yes, I could run it on my phone and then use its built-in navigation, but hoping for a solution using the main screen.
Or maybe a future s/w update will include a web browser for the Model 3.
As for in-car efficiency, the car already underestimates that in my case. My car is extremely slippery on the highway. I got 199 Wh/mile on a return trip despite trying to keep up with some friends in a different car that were driving WAY faster than I'm used to. That kind of efficiency is just mad!
A point of interest: Charging at the lower half of the battery capacity is the fastest. After 50% the speed tapers. While "extra charge" might make a person feel better at first. Watch the Nav to arrive with 15% when new to EV driving.
Spring and Fall Seasons (lighter HVAC usage): For the fastest trip put your final destination in the Nav and follow the recommended charging times. These range between 20 and 50 minutes usually.
Hot Summer and Winter (heavy HVAC usage and wind, rain, snow): An extra 10% buffer above the Nav's recommended charge level can be a good technique for piece of mind and relieves range anxiety. Wipers, increased rolling resistance due to rain water on the road, heat and seat heaters on, all take a little power...but...
Lowering speed by 5 mph is much more effective than turning off the heat or air conditioning, nav screen, etc.
Driving the speed limit or five under can make a trip faster overall by minimizing time spent at chargers. It sounds funny, but think about the whole trip's average speed (total trip time divided by miles to destination).
Use the reference for miles remaining based on the last 30 miles driven. The orange graph icon on the top of the screen can be a better source of information than the "rated range." I use battery percentage, not miles, on the display for this reason.
After doing some research before picking up my car I was ready to experience EV reality. My range anxiety went away after I drove the five hours home from picking up my Model S. I bought a private party used car and have been loving it ever since. Road trips are enjoyable. The stops are needed on a trip and 30 to 45 minutes every 2.5 hours anyway to stretch the legs, use a restroom, play some frisbee and grab a snack. With my wife and three kids, long trips in the S are a fun adventure, not a chore at all.
Spring and Fall Seasons (lighter HVAC usage): For the fastest trip put your final destination in the Nav and follow the recommended charging times. These range between 20 and 50 minutes usually.
Hot Summer and Winter (heavy HVAC usage and wind, rain, snow): An extra 10% buffer above the Nav's recommended charge level can be a good technique for piece of mind and relieves range anxiety. Wipers, increased rolling resistance due to rain water on the road, heat and seat heaters on, all take a little power...but...
Lowering speed by 5 mph is much more effective than turning off the heat or air conditioning, nav screen, etc.
Driving the speed limit or five under can make a trip faster overall by minimizing time spent at chargers. It sounds funny, but think about the whole trip's average speed (total trip time divided by miles to destination).
Use the reference for miles remaining based on the last 30 miles driven. The orange graph icon on the top of the screen can be a better source of information than the "rated range." I use battery percentage, not miles, on the display for this reason.
After doing some research before picking up my car I was ready to experience EV reality. My range anxiety went away after I drove the five hours home from picking up my Model S. I bought a private party used car and have been loving it ever since. Road trips are enjoyable. The stops are needed on a trip and 30 to 45 minutes every 2.5 hours anyway to stretch the legs, use a restroom, play some frisbee and grab a snack. With my wife and three kids, long trips in the S are a fun adventure, not a chore at all.
Last thing first. Lightning icon in bottom-right corner of navigation screen brings up a list of nearby SuC. You can tap on one to make it the navigation destination.
You can set your navigation preferences to make chargers always visible on the map.
If we need a break before the next planned SuC stop, we’ll try to take the break at a SuperCharger location near our route. Plug in the cable, visit the facility,restore desired fluid levels, walk back to the car and unplug. Resume driving with more KWh in the battery.
If charge level is high enough to reach your destination, no further stops required. Else have navigation replan your route.
We charge at every break, even if we already have enough range to reach our destination. Very small additional delay. Extra range is like money in the bank - nice to have for unforeseen situations.
Drove from Philadelphia to DC today for a weekend with our daughter. Figured we might need to recharge at some point in the round trip.
Our car usually has enough range for the round trip, unless we spend a lot of KWh to local driving, delays or detours.
This trip, we needed a break by the time we reached Maryland House. Plugged in, then took our break. Unplugged and resumed driving. Some cars that were at gas pumps when we arrived were still there when we left.
The 7% we added in 5 minutes means we will not have to stop when we return tomorrow.
Hope this helps. It takes a few trips to feel comfortable with the process. After 9 months, my wife has lost nearly all range anxiety.
Most Tesla drivers that I know have studied the map and know what superchargers are on their route and plan where they’re going to stop. Maybe that’s because we’ve been watching for the supercharger openings over the years. Often where I stop is based on a meal schedule and what’s nearby. At least you should take a glance at the supercharger map ahead of time so you know your options. To navigate to one while you’re driving, even if your car says you can skip it, just tap on the red icon on the map or the supercharger name in the list.
RTPEV
Active Member
Yes...as an example, on our recent road trip I knew that there was a Supercharger in Greensboro, NC and Hickory, NC, but not sure exactly what exits, and certainly did not know how to navigate to them off the exit other than using plugshare. Plus the map was zoomed in too far to see the Supercharger, but even as we got closer, I can't remember seeing it on the map, so maybe I need to find the setting to always display them. And yes, when I picked up the car, the DS showed me the lightning bolt button on the nav screen to bring up nearby Superchargers, but I've noticed that it's usually not there (unless you touch the screen maybe?) So part of my problem is maybe just getting used to the UI.
I guess it just seems to me like this would be a pretty common usability feature and surprised more support isn't built into the nav system, which is why I figured I just wasn't doing something correctly.
RTPEV
Active Member
If you click on "Show Settings" and then again on "Show More Settings" you will see a MyTesla login and you can either use your login info or use an oauth access token.
No need for Plugshare. The car navigates you to the supercharger you choose. Change the zoom level in the map if you need to see the area. Either tap the red icon, tap the supercharger name in the list of nearby charging, or just say “navigate to Greensboro supercharger”.
To plan your trip ahead of time, look at the supercharger map on Tesla’s web site. Clicking on a location will give you info about the supercharger, such as what restaurants are nearby. Or just put the supercharger name in Google maps and you can see exactly where it’s located in the shopping center or whatever and what is nearby.
RTPEV
Active Member
I did manage to try out bringing up the Supercharger list on the screen while navigating by figuring out the magic spot to hit the screen (hit it in the wrong spot and the display turns from "Heading Up" and centered on the vehicle to "something else". But if you do tap it in the neighborhood of where the lightning bolt would appear, the lightning bolt does appear (not sure why those icons need to disappear in the first place). It does do a reasonable job of bringing up a sorted list of Superchargers and distance to them. I suppose on a road trip it's generally going to have the next one at the top, if not in the top 2.
It's still a bit more clicking than I'd like to do, but I suppose I can live with it. Ideally if the turn by turn list included the next upcoming Supercharger (if there was one less than 10 minutes off the travel route) with the estimated arrival time and SOC shown, ready to click if I decided to add that as a stop, that would be wonderful.
It’s really not that complicated. If you know you want to go the the Hickory supercharger, for example, just say “navigate to Hickory supercharger”. No tapping required.
If you want to see the nearby superchargers displayed on the map and in list form, you don’t have to know where the charging icon would be on the screen. Tap ANYWHERE on the map other than the compass icon and it will show all the map options (charging, satellite view, traffic view, zoom). Tapping on charging icon shows the supercharger locations and the names in list form. Tap either the red map icon or the text “Supercharger Hickory NC” to navigate there. After you’ve done it once you won’t have to think about how to do it.
If you want to see the nearby superchargers displayed on the map and in list form, you don’t have to know where the charging icon would be on the screen. Tap ANYWHERE on the map other than the compass icon and it will show all the map options (charging, satellite view, traffic view, zoom). Tapping on charging icon shows the supercharger locations and the names in list form. Tap either the red map icon or the text “Supercharger Hickory NC” to navigate there. After you’ve done it once you won’t have to think about how to do it.
RTPEV
Active Member
See I think you completely misunderstand what I am asking. The point is I don't necessarily know where I want to stop. If my wife says she needs to use the restroom within the next 30 minutes, I need to know whether there is a Supercharger coming up in the next 30 minutes. I may or may not know that it's Hickory or some other out of state Supercharger that I may or may not be familiar with. If there's not a Supercharger on the route, I'll just stop wherever. But if there is one coming up that I may or may not be familiar with, I want that information. I don't necessarily want to click on the map and scroll around the map looking for what might be ahead of me (but maybe is behind).
Similar threads
- Question
