Traded in my M3 for a Lightning. The truck is beautiful and amazing. I am waiting in a Tesla adapter but am headed up the east coast from NC to CT. So far have been to 3 chargers and they are all slow 30-90kW.
The Tesla superchargers I have been to, (Moses Lake and Quincy WA) both delivered 170 and ramped down to 126 as SOC approached 80%.
Unfortunately, effective trip planning requires multiple apps. One of which is Plug Share where it still is not enough to just look at PlugScore. I look at recent check-ins and scan them for other Lightning or Mach E users. If there are several check-ins in the the past week reporting broken chargers, or Lightning users reporting 60-100 kW charging, I move on to the next one.
@Stella
Realizing I misread the post. Trip planning comment still applies however.
@Stella
Because Ford software , this isnt an issue with other EVs.
Callum said:
@Stella
Because Ford software , this isnt an issue with other EVs.
Other EVs have up to the minute information on every possible charging location including advertised charge speed, current availability, recent check-ins, and community based ratings/score all baked into their in-vehicle software and smartphone apps? Which EVs have this?
@Stella
Almost, Tesla has rating, and up to the minute or damn close on their chargers. Also has 3rd party ones in the system. https://www.tesla.com/support/charging/improving-access-third-party-fast-charging . You dont need all this other garbage when the chargers are not trash to start with, and the car just plans the route. I would hop in my Tesla and let it plan the trip without a problem. Thats never happening in the lightning.
@Callum
So Tesla will tell me if a Circle K charge station in Fernie BC is currently available, show me photos of the station, show me recent check-ins from other community members so I can verify operability and expected speed, and show restaurants within a 10 min walk and community ratings of those restaurants? Will it tell me if there are washrooms available?
Will Mercedes, Volkswagen, Kia, Hyundai, GM, Volvo, Nissan, Honda and Acura also give me all of the above on their platforms? Or by other EVs did you just mean Tesla?
@Stella
Yea pretty close , no pics. However amenity’s and such is in the UI. Ah great call , forgot all these other oems also have bad software … ya got me… I would venture there is basically no where you realistically cannot go where a supercharger isnt on the route at this point in time, and with the range of the trucks.
@Callum
Hat tip to Tesla for having great software. I think the worst case scenario for our collective EV future, is that all car companies continue their attempt to compete within the navigation space, thinking they can do better than Google and Apple, and gain some competitive advantage over their rival car manufacturers in the process. Something that anyone with a few functioning brain cells knows simply isn’t a reality. Ford or Stellantis is going to beat Google at the mapping game?? We all lose if that is the approach that they all continue to take. Google Auto and Apple CarOS (if it ever comes) are promising signals that the manufacturers are giving up the fight. Map data absolutely must be crowd sourced in realtime. Anything else is completely useless. Last time I checked Ford’s (and any other manufacturer’s) nav system will never be able to tell me who just checked in at a given charging station, show me a station that opened last week, or show me 800 reviews of a restaurant that opened last month. I’d bet my house that’s not even one of their stated objectives either.
@Stella
The thing is Ford with relying on carplay and aa is actually worse for the user from my perspective. Ford could instead say partner with plugshare, or whatever your other favorite app is and provide that data to a nav. The maps in Tesla vehicles have changed over time from various providers. Software enables those kinda switches, which makes the user experience better over time. The problem your solving with multiple apps, and checking status really should not be a problem.
The car can know, and already knows stall status based on api calls. This can happen for multiple brands of chargers. The other rich data your talking about is another api call away based on a gps location of said charger. If ford doesnt want to be in this game, they shouldnt sell cars with “NAV”
@Callum
From what I understand, most, if not all, car manufacturers are moving away from CarPlay and AA to Google Automotive and soon to be revealed Apple CarOS. Projection from the smartphone to the car (CarPlay and AA) will eventually die and be replaced by these platforms. PlugShare and ABRP will then eventually be available for install on these operating systems, built-into the cars, rather than running on the driver’s smartphone.
I don’t think it is at all debatable at this point who reigns supreme in the mapping and navigation space—Google. All of the pieces are there. Just need a few more EV specific filters, and a few more vehicle specific parameters to be fed to the app. Both Google Maps and Apple Maps now communicate bidirectionally so they are almost there. The routing algorithm also needs to be tailored to EVs a la ABRP style.
No matter what Tesla, or any other car maker do with their navigation apps, most of us are always going to rely on Google Maps first for a wealth of information that the car makers will never be able to provide.
@Stella
Agree, and the oems can skin and hydrate that map with useful things that resonate with the brand to differentiate the experience. If you know you can buy a tesla, and your route planning is seamless, use it while driving and have context to the experience vs what Ford has for some buyers may go that route. (Tesla uses google maps and mapbox…)
I think this is where Ford blows my mind, they seem to be giving this part up and I think its short sighted of them.
@Stella
Alright so the ford has the features your wanting to see, including real time charge info. The thing with the software is its slow as fuck, clunky, and cannot use it while driving which is dumb.
That’s why I plug share every place before I go.
What was the kW rating for the charger you stopped at? Until my adapter arrives, I don’t stop at charging spots that aren’t rated for at least 150kW, but target the 350kW ones.
DolphGabbana said:
What was the kW rating for the charger you stopped at? Until my adapter arrives, I don’t stop at charging spots that aren’t rated for at least 150kW, but target the 350kW ones.
All 350
@Keaton
I get 180+ peak on 350 stations, something seems off, should be getting way more than that if station isn’t having issues.
Derrick said:
@Keaton
I get 180+ peak on 350 stations, something seems off, should be getting way more than that if station isn’t having issues.
This is the problem i find. Most stations have issues! Coming from tesla other stations are just so sad! No wonder every manufacturer wants to charge on the SC network! All others need some work!
@Trey
Some are great, some are shit. You’ll learn. That being said you can just get an adapter and use the superchargers. No need to wait for the free ford one just buy it
hermanbennnet said:
@Trey
Some are great, some are shit. You’ll learn. That being said you can just get an adapter and use the superchargers. No need to wait for the free ford one just buy it
Ordered an ORM Ford one from EBay.