Tesla Navigation Starting to Make me Nervous

[Tha_Ape]

I've had my Model Y for almost 3yrs, been on a few 1000mi road trips in various weather/Temps. Up until recently the navigation has been great. It generally has me stop at the next charger with about 15-20% and has me charge to <85% for the next leg.

I took a trip recently and it had me charge to 95% a few times and ran me down to 4% a couple of times. On the very last leg it had me charge to 100%(!!!) Not exactly the zone I like to be in. There are definitely other, closer chargers along the route.

To be fair, it was very cold (28F) and I kept the cabin at 68F. I'm using winter tires which also add 40Wh/mi in my experience. But the car knows all of that. It's predictions are generally spot on, even when I drive 10mph over the limit. I found myself having to limit my driving speed (never had to do that before).


I'm wondering if there's a setting I need to change or if Tesla has changed its routing plans to be more "aggressive"? I prefer to use the in-car nav, but I'm probably going to use ABRP next time.

 

[howardnj]

^^^
In addition to the Tesla Navigation, I use plug-Share to navigate to the next charger usually about 150 miles from my present location. The car begins to warm the battery prior to my arrival making the charge time reduced.

 

[posity]

It frequently has you stop too early or suggests sub-optimum scenarios, like you described. I try different scenarios by using the voice command 'show superchargers', press 'remove charging stops' on navigation and then zoom out far enough to select other supercharger locations than the ones it automatically picks. It is very good about guessing the remaining charge at the next stop, so I just play around with different next stops (and if a long trip, the combination of supercharger stops after that). Most of the time, I can find better scenarios, especially when adding in the consideration of my preferred food and restroom breaks. I end up rarely using the originally suggested charging stops.

 

[Tha_Ape]

Yea, here's the screen right after charging in La Vale, MD the other day. Had me charge to 91% and arrive at the next SC at 6%. That's a scary ask. It was fine, but I don't like to run that deep into my "reserves".

I was really hoping I accidentally changed a setting somewhere :/
The navigation/ charging has been great over the past few years until this past trip

 

[tga]

The stations it selects are often sub-opitmal, and it seems to have gotten worse with more superchargers (and more route choices). You can always pick your own station and add it as a waypoint or destination, remove the ones it has selected, etc. In the example above, there is no need to drive straight from La Vale to Triadelphia, since there are plenty of superchargers en route.

I think there's a bunch of variables behind the scenes used in selecting superchargers for a route. Tesla recently announced that the projected station demand and the # of cars en route to a particular station will be factored in. I'm sure electricity prices factor in as well.

I pretty much always adjust the chargers it selects, based on where/when I want to to a break. Stop early to avoid lunch at 2pm, or I just had a bunch of coffee, so a bathroom break in an hour, etc. Some stations have better amenities, etc.

 

[Tha_Ape]

The stations it selects are often sub-opitmal, and it seems to have gotten worse with more superchargers (and more route choices). You can always pick your own station and add it as a waypoint or destination, remove the ones it has selected, etc. In the example above, there is no need to drive straight from La Vale to Triadelphia, since there are plenty of superchargers en route.

I think there's a bunch of variables behind the scenes used in selecting superchargers for a route. Tesla recently announced that the projected station demand and the # of cars en route to a particular station will be factored in. I'm sure electricity prices factor in as well.

I pretty much always adjust the chargers it selects, based on where/when I want to to a break. Stop early to avoid lunch at 2pm, or I just had a bunch of coffee, so a bathroom break in an hour, etc. Some stations have better amenities, etc.

Thanks glad it's not only me who notices that.

I much prefer and extra stop or 2 on a very long trip vs. pushing the limits. I'll go manual next time

 

[jjrandorin]

I probably shouldnt "out" myself like this, and it has nothing to do with moderation content, but im gonna say it anyway.

These type of threads are some of my very favorite, and fully exemplify my own personal view of "what are forums for, anyway?"

By "these type" of threads, I mean a thread where a member has a question or problem, presents it without a bunch of drama or finger pointing, and members respond with info / solutions / workarounds etc.

Im contrasting "these type" of threads with other types, where someone creates a thread to rant (not really ask a question, even though "anyone see this?" is normally added at the end of rant threads, or "Lets get conversation going / troll lite" type threads.

I love these kind, thanks OP for creating and posting in that tone, and thanks everyone else who chimed in to present help on it.

 

[Mateo83]

I probably shouldnt "out" myself like this, and it has nothing to do with moderation content, but im gonna say it anyway.

These type of threads are some of my very favorite, and fully exemplify my own personal view of "what are forums for, anyway?"

By "these type" of threads, I mean a thread where a member has a question or problem, presents it without a bunch of drama or finger pointing, and members respond with info / solutions / workarounds etc.

Im contrasting "these type" of threads with other types, where someone creates a thread to rant (not really ask a question, even though "anyone see this?" is normally added at the end of rant threads, or "Lets get conversation going / troll lite" type threads.

I love these kind, thanks OP for creating and posting in that tone, and thanks everyone else who chimed in to present help on it.

Did you have something to add to the topic?

 

[Mateo83]

I hate how Telsa has routed the car directly into traffic, accident, etc. lately instead of suggesting a quicker route.

 

[DanDi58]

I too wish they had more options. While i understand that it is trying to minimize the amount of time spent charging on a given trip (at least that's how I understand it works), I really hate sitting for more than 15 minutes or so unless I'm planning a longer stop for lunch. So, I'd like options to change the algorithm so that I could, say, stop for no more than X minutes and have it add additional chargers. I'd also like an option to be able to easily input which specific chargers I'd like to stop at for routes I travel frequently (yeah, I can add them as way points and delete the suggested ones, but that's a bit clunky). I also wish it was easier to view alternate routes, like on Google Maps, where all the routes are shown initially and you pick one. And at some point it would be great to indicate that you do have a CCS charger and maybe have the option to add those to a route as well, especially when you're on a section of highway that has few superchargers, or only old V2 ones where you share power.

 

[BillRadio]

I much prefer and extra stop or 2 on a very long trip vs. pushing the limits. I'll go manual next time.

Manual is the way to go. I like to stop no more than every 2 hours on a long trip, and usually less. Even more important is being able to choose a Supercharger with amenities. There's one 3 hours from me that is in a field behind some apartments with nothing nearby. Not even a tree.

 

[tga]

While i understand that it is trying to minimize the amount of time spent charging on a given trip (at least that's how I understand it works)

But it doesn't even seem to do that - just today it wanted me to stop at the first charger en route, with 23% remaining. I could have easily gone to the next one (or even one more) and showed up with <10% and charged faster for longer.

That's why I think there's some additional variables behind the scenes (electricity charges, demand charges, etc), since often the selections make no sence as a user. And why I like to plan my own charging stops (known amenities, tolerance for lower SoC, etc).

 

[DanDi58]

But it doesn't even seem to do that - just today it wanted me to stop at the first charger en route, with 23% remaining. I could have easily gone to the next one (or even one more) and showed up with <10% and charged faster for longer.

That's why I think there's some additional variables behind the scenes (electricity charges, demand charges, etc), since often the selections make no sence as a user. And why I like to plan my own charging stops (known amenities, tolerance for lower SoC, etc).

According to the OM, it still does....

Trip Planner​

Trip Planner (if available in your region) helps you take longer road trips with confidence. If reaching your destination requires charging, Trip Planner routes you through the appropriate Supercharger locations. Trip Planner selects a route and provides charging times to minimize the amount of time you spend driving and charging. To enable Trip Planner, touch the map's settings icon (see Navigation Settings), then touch Trip Planner.

 

[Tha_Ape]

FWIW, my trip back was fine. Acted normal-ish

 

[tga]

According to the OM, it still does....

Trip Planner​

Trip Planner (if available in your region) helps you take longer road trips with confidence. If reaching your destination requires charging, Trip Planner routes you through the appropriate Supercharger locations. Trip Planner selects a route and provides charging times to minimize the amount of time you spend driving and charging. To enable Trip Planner, touch the map's settings icon (see Navigation Settings), then touch Trip Planner.

Except in the case I just gave, it's not minimizing my total trip time, because it would have me charge sooner than necessary, at a higher state of charge than necessary, which would extend the total charge time vs driving another 30-40 miles before charging.

 

[DanDi58]

Except in the case I just gave, it's not minimizing my total trip time, because it would have me charge sooner than necessary, at a higher state of charge than necessary, which would extend the total charge time vs driving another 30-40 miles before charging.

Perhaps, hard to know for sure. Charging curves being what they are, more shorter charges staying in the curve where you're above 100kW, may be shorter than charging to higher SOC where your kW drops into the 50s....

 

[muse of comedy]

I use Tesla navigation with the suggested charging station stops but one charger it was navigating me to was a 20 mile detour from my route resulting in an extra 40 miles out of my way to charge. I did a u turn on a police car turn around instead and figured out how to get to a charging station closer to my route. This was in New Jersey going from MA to PA so it was not a remote area. So my question is how can you get the charging info with navigation to give you the closest charging stations to your route. Do you have to adjust some setting in navigation? This happened awhile ago - maybe there have been software upgrades that have fixed this problem?! Also obviously I don't know how to post a new thread on the forum. ugh

 

[Goobers]

I use Tesla navigation with the suggested charging station stops but one charger it was navigating me to was a 20 mile detour from my route resulting in an extra 40 miles out of my way to charge. I did a u turn on a police car turn around instead and figured out how to get to a charging station closer to my route. This was in New Jersey going from MA to PA so it was not a remote area. So my question is how can you get the charging info with navigation to give you the closest charging stations to your route. Do you have to adjust some setting in navigation? This happened awhile ago - maybe there have been software upgrades that have fixed this problem?! Also obviously I don't know how to post a new thread on the forum. ugh

In plenty of places, your u-turn was illegal.

It’s probable, that in order to route you to that closer SC, it would have to take a longer route, because it won’t use that u-turn.

How many miles would you have to drive if you were to take the next exit to turn around to get to the ”closer” SC?

 

[DanDi58]

I use Tesla navigation with the suggested charging station stops but one charger it was navigating me to was a 20 mile detour from my route resulting in an extra 40 miles out of my way to charge. I did a u turn on a police car turn around instead and figured out how to get to a charging station closer to my route. This was in New Jersey going from MA to PA so it was not a remote area. So my question is how can you get the charging info with navigation to give you the closest charging stations to your route. Do you have to adjust some setting in navigation? This happened awhile ago - maybe there have been software upgrades that have fixed this problem?! Also obviously I don't know how to post a new thread on the forum. ugh

I will generally review the list of charging stops before I head out. The good news is that you can do this on the app now, and even adjust the starting SOC to what you'll have when you leave home. You have a few options in terms of avoiding a stop you don't want to make. You can charge up a little extra at each stop prior, or do a deeper charge at the stop prior to the one you want to avoid. Or, you can simply navigate to each charger in turn rather than putting in your final destination. Then, when you arrive at the first charger, put in the next one, etc. I've done this when I want to stop at a particular charger because I know the amenities are better than one it wants me to stop at.

I'm curious as to which one in NJ was 40 miles out of the way? Do you recall? I travel from Central NJ to MA pretty frequently so am pretty familiar with this route.

 

[Eric33432]

I rarely have used the chargers that the nav system originally shows when starting out. Might be because I get hungry, need to use the potty, and I usually charge 5 to 10 percent more than needed to continue my trip because they are so fast I am not usually back from whatever I am doing whilst the car is charging. And most of routes I go on have a plethora of chargers. I just hit the little lightning bolt and it shows all the chargers around and I select the one I want and the nav adjusts to go to that charger.