Planning trip from Chicago to Aldie Virginia

[First_EV]

Hello,

I am planning a trip from Chicago -> Virginia. When the car selects charging stations for some reason it does not select any EA chargers.
I see Evgo and some other company's chargers. Does anyone by chance know how to select EA chargers during router planning?
Also, if other companies' chargers are selected, do I have to do anything before I start a trip, like register/create an account etc?

I would prefer to use EA chargers if possible but somehow not showing up on route.

Thanks!

 

[kort6776]

get yourself both plugshare and a better route planner, then use them to plan your trip based on your preferences for chargers. for me part of the fun of road tripping in an EV is the time spent plotting the routes, finding secondary chargers in case the primary one is inaccessible , planning meal stops and finding hotels with chargers for overnight charge ups.

 

[Spin Doctor]

Without planning a route or anything, do a search for chargers around you and make sure "EA Only" is selected. This should then apply next time you plan a route.

I did DC to South Bend and back in December which, depending which way you go, is a similar route. There are some good charging options at rest stops on 90. Once you get onto 76 I found the EA locations get a little more congested, so it's worth having fallback options whether EVGo or whoever else.

Thoroughly endorse the ABRP and Plugshare recommendations

 

[segbrk]

Agreed on planning with ABRP and PlugShare. The way I do it is use ABRP to plan a route, then use PlugShare to check out each charging stop ABRP recommended for recent reviews and nearby alternatives.

Definitely worth getting accounts set up for the other big players EVGo and ChargePoint ahead of time just as a backup. You don't have to pay anything unless you use them, but getting them set up with accounts and payment info loaded will make it less frustrating if you do end up falling back on them.

 

[First_EV]

get yourself both plugshare and a better route planner, then use them to plan your trip based on your preferences for chargers. for me part of the fun of road tripping in an EV is the time spent plotting the routes, finding secondary chargers in case the primary one is inaccessible , planning meal stops and finding hotels with chargers for overnight charge ups.

Thanks, I am assuming "better route planner" is some kind of app for router planning. I will search it up.

 

[kort6776]

Thanks, I am assuming "better route planner" is some kind of app for router planning. I will search it up.

ABRP

ABetterRouteplanner is the world's most popular consumer EV routeplanner - both for beginner and experienced EV drivers. And of course for anyone curious about EVs.

abetterrouteplanner.com

 

[First_EV]

Without planning a route or anything, do a search for chargers around you and make sure "EA Only" is selected. This should then apply next time you plan a route.

I did DC to South Bend and back in December which, depending which way you go, is a similar route. There are some good charging options at rest stops on 90. Once you get onto 76 I found the EA locations get a little more congested, so it's worth having fallback options whether EVGo or whoever else.

Thoroughly endorse the ABRP and Plugshare recommendations

Thank you! I see I will get both A better router planner and Plugshare app.

 

[First_EV]

Agreed on planning with ABRP and PlugShare. The way I do it is use ABRP to plan a route, then use PlugShare to check out each charging stop ABRP recommended for recent reviews and nearby alternatives.

Definitely worth getting accounts set up for the other big players EVGo and ChargePoint ahead of time just as a backup. You don't have to pay anything unless you use them, but getting them set up with accounts and payment info loaded will make it less frustrating if you do end up falling back on them.

Thanks, I already in ChargePoint at home and account. I will also set up one for EVGo and, as recommended, get the needed apps. This is my first long trip, hopefully it goes smoothly

 

[Ahntilza]

Thanks, I already in ChargePoint at home and account. I will also set up one for EVGo and, as recommended, get the needed apps. This is my first long trip, hopefully it goes smoothly

Do you plan on taking the northern route or the southern. I drove from Manassas( southeast of Aldie I believe) to St. Louis and I took I-70 for the vast majority of my trip in the touring. I had no problems charging. The car did a pretty good job of picking stops, though I overrode them in some cases as it was very early on in my EV life and my first long trip and it wanted to take me to a lower level of charge than I was comfortable with at the time. All in all, it was pretty uneventful.

 

[Buffalo Bob]

Hello,

I am planning a trip from Chicago -> Virginia. When the car selects charging stations for some reason it does not select any EA chargers.
I see Evgo and some other company's chargers. Does anyone by chance know how to select EA chargers during router planning?
Also, if other companies' chargers are selected, do I have to do anything before I start a trip, like register/create an account etc?

I would prefer to use EA chargers if possible but somehow not showing up on route.

Thanks!

First off, you'll want to set up your charger selection on the Lucid navigation app. Launch navigation on the top tight area of the upper screen, and then use the drag down feature (if necessary) to get the navigation on the big screen. Click on the blue charging selection button, and toggle the EA only app. There is also a filter area where you could select only EA. The app will then plan EA only to the extent possible, but will let you know if it cannot plot the route with only EA. (That should not be a problem for you on your planned route.)

You can also set EA only on the Lucid app. Open navigation and then click on the charger icon in the upper right. Charging Filters will than appear as an option at the top, and from there you can select EA.

 

[Buffalo Bob]

First off, you'll want to set up your charger selection on the Lucid navigation app. Launch navigation on the top tight area of the upper screen, and then use the drag down feature (if necessary) to get the navigation on the big screen. Click on the blue charging selection button, and toggle the EA only app. There is also a filter area where you could select only EA. The app will then plan EA only to the extent possible, but will let you know if it cannot plot the route with only EA. (That should not be a problem for you on your planned route.)

You can also set EA only on the Lucid app. Open navigation and then click on the charger icon in the upper right. Charging Filters will than appear as an option at the top, and from there you can select EA.

Other people gave you good advice about other apps to use when planning your trip, but fixing Lucid navigation is an important first step. I find ABRP to be quite useful. A good thing about Lucid navigation is that it is pretty good at giving you real time estimates of the range remaining when you reach your next stop. It does not just use the (often way optimistic) EPA figures. Beware though, as unusual conditions such as cold, headwinds, rain etc. can seriously change those estimates. I find that range estimate to be particularly useful when deciding if I stop at the next EA station, or push on a while longer to the next one.

 

[First_EV]

First off, you'll want to set up your charger selection on the Lucid navigation app. Launch navigation on the top tight area of the upper screen, and then use the drag down feature (if necessary) to get the navigation on the big screen. Click on the blue charging selection button, and toggle the EA only app. There is also a filter area where you could select only EA. The app will then plan EA only to the extent possible, but will let you know if it cannot plot the route with only EA. (That should not be a problem for you on your planned route.)

You can also set EA only on the Lucid app. Open navigation and then click on the charger icon in the upper right. Charging Filters will than appear as an option at the top, and from there you can select EA.

I have changed in car to EA only and in app to be EA and chargepoint, I am assuming after applying filters in Lucid App, my car will take that into consideration while doing route. Thanks!

 

[First_EV]

Other people gave you good advice about other apps to use when planning your trip, but fixing Lucid navigation is an important first step. I find ABRP to be quite useful. A good thing about Lucid navigation is that it is pretty good at giving you real time estimates of the range remaining when you reach your next stop. It does not just use the (often way optimistic) EPA figures. Beware though, as unusual conditions such as cold, headwinds, rain etc. can seriously change those estimates. I find that range estimate to be particularly useful when deciding if I stop at the next EA station, or push on a while longer to the next one.

Thank you, I have downloaded both ABRP and Plugshare and they both seems really useful (especially ABRP) which selected route based on my filtered chargers.

 

[segbrk]

Thank you, I have downloaded both ABRP and Plugshare and they both seems really useful (especially ABRP) which selected route based on my filtered chargers.

Just be careful relying on ABRP too much. It can only guess what your actual efficiency will be. Play with the settings for how fast you'll drive, how much extra weight you'll be carrying, etc. and try to make sure it's going to underestimate your efficiency rather than the other way around. And do check out the chargers it suggests on PlugShare as well. ABRP has some reviews/ratings, but PlugShare has a lot more and tends to be more up to date. You don't want to end up at a charger that's been out of commission for days.

 

[First_EV]

Just be careful relying on ABRP too much. It can only guess what your actual efficiency will be. Play with the settings for how fast you'll drive, how much extra weight you'll be carrying, etc. and try to make sure it's going to underestimate your efficiency rather than the other way around. And do check out the chargers it suggests on PlugShare as well. ABRP has some reviews/ratings, but PlugShare has a lot more and tends to be more up to date. You don't want to end up at a charger that's been out of commission for days.

For sure, since this is my first long road trip I will be extra careful. Thanks for taking the time and get back.

 

[First_EV]

Do you plan on taking the northern route or the southern. I drove from Manassas( southeast of Aldie I believe) to St. Louis and I took I-70 for the vast majority of my trip in the touring. I had no problems charging. The car did a pretty good job of picking stops, though I overrode them in some cases as it was very early on in my EV life and my first long trip and it wanted to take me to a lower level of charge than I was comfortable with at the time. All in all, it was pretty uneventful.

I am thinking of taking northern route since it is faster time wise and meeting in friend in Ohio. There seems to be quite a bit of charging options along the route. Car is telling me to stop twice but I might do an extra charge in between. Thanks!

 

[Buffalo Bob]

I am thinking of taking northern route since it is faster time wise and meeting in friend in Ohio. There seems to be quite a bit of charging options along the route. Car is telling me to stop twice but I might do an extra charge in between. Thanks!

Will you be traveling alone? One thing to watch out for... Lucid navigation lets you do all kinds of things while the car is moving, so it's easy to get distracted. Playing with the app on the fly is a lot safer when you have someone with you to enter changes. Otherwise, try to do it when stopped.

With regard to possibly adding a proposed third EA stop along the route... I like to put that proposed third EA stop on a phone app, so I have a reminder of where it is. As I am around 20 miles from it, I take note of what Lucid Navigation says is the distance to its next planned stop, and the remaining range estimate at that stop. Say for the sake of argument that the next stop is 125 miles away, with an estimated 40 miles remaining. That would be too tight for me, so I would follow my phone app to the EA stop just down the road. Remember that, in such a case, you will have to manually start preconditioning the battery. When you do make that stop, the Lucid app will likely change your remaining EA stops, so bear that in mind.

My hints for a happier trip with less range anxiety. Whenever possible, try to avoid having to charge past an 80% SOC. EA slows down SO much by then that you don't want to do it unless you have to. Similarly, try to arrive at a charger with no less than a 20% SOC. Also, try to plan EA stops along the more rural parts of the route. Stops in metro areas are far more likely to be crowded, while the ones just off the highway in a rural area almost always have multiple empty spots. Bear in mind that, overall, you'll likely find that three stops adding 50% at each will take less total time than two stops adding 75% at each.

Hope this helps...

 

[Daniel2022AT]

I have become very comfortable on road trips running down to 10% SOC before charging. Power is best at lower SOC and I regularly get 220-240 KW between 10-40% SOC (Touring). I charge to no more than 75% because power fades to maybe 60KW above that. This saves a lot of time. My driving style is conservative so efficiency and range is very predictable.

 

[Buffalo Bob]

I have become very comfortable on road trips running down to 10% SOC before charging. Power is best at lower SOC and I regularly get 220-240 KW between 10-40% SOC (Touring). I charge to no more than 75% because power fades to maybe , but60KW above that. This saves a lot of time. My driving style is conservative so efficiency and range is very predictable.

I agree about the benefits of charging at a lower initial SOC, but I think the comfort level with running down to 10% only comes after getting quite a bit more familiar with road-tripping in an EV.

 

[Ahntilza]

I am thinking of taking northern route since it is faster time wise and meeting in friend in Ohio. There seems to be quite a bit of charging options along the route. Car is telling me to stop twice but I might do an extra charge in between. Thanks!

I did fairly well in Ohio, though I went through Columbus. Along the way there were several EA and EVGo stations that I could have stopped it. They were for the most part at Walmarts. In Pennsylvania, they tended to be at a lot of Sheetz gas stations. Sheetz usually have a convenience store with cooked to order foods like pizza, burgers et al, so they are nice to stop at for a semi-long charge.