Traveling with Apple Maps (possibly Ford/others) Question

[FloridaMan655321]

I have a trip coming up and I've been poking around on Apple Maps now that I have the Lightning connected and it shows where to charge. My question is more of choosing where to charge. I can't seem to figure out how to add a stop and it knowing that I'll be charging there. Is this just something that isn't adjustable and you just kind of have to do whatever you want to do and then later the maps will adjust? Or do I just need to add the stops I want and ignore where it tells me to charge?
Also, I tried poking around with the Ford maps, but sweet Jebus it's just not as fast/responsive as an iPad. IMO, don't do things with a touchscreen unless you're on par with an iPad. Is this something I should look at doing with Ford? Maybe another options like PlugShare?

I'm also not opposed to another way of thinking or planning this trip. I'm a newb, so feel free to make other suggestions. Thankfully I should have a lot of charging options, so not a lot of stress.

Sponsored

 

[zinkscott]

Personally I get a route set in PlugShare and then put the charger address in Apple Maps, go to that charger, repeat. Apple Maps is more accurate about the SoC at destination than the built in navigation.

EDIT: I also compare the PlugShare route with ABRP. When I tested live data via Enode it was very accurate, but it locked my FordPass account and I believe you get 3 soft locks requiring a password reset before the account is locked in a way that requires support.

 

[luebri]

I have a trip coming up and I've been poking around on Apple Maps now that I have the Lightning connected and it shows where to charge. My question is more of choosing where to charge. I can't seem to figure out how to add a stop and it knowing that I'll be charging there. Is this just something that isn't adjustable and you just kind of have to do whatever you want to do and then later the maps will adjust? Or do I just need to add the stops I want and ignore where it tells me to charge?
Also, I tried poking around with the Ford maps, but sweet Jebus it's just not as fast/responsive as an iPad. IMO, don't do things with a touchscreen unless you're on par with an iPad. Is this something I should look at doing with Ford? Maybe another options like PlugShare?

I'm also not opposed to another way of thinking or planning this trip. I'm a newb, so feel free to make other suggestions. Thankfully I should have a lot of charging options, so not a lot of stress.

I personally plan my routes and chargers if using DCFC (rare) and never use any NAV for help regarding State of charge or range. I plan my DCFC stops with Plughshare. I have in mind my primary stops and my backups if "s*** hits the fan" at my primary.

The only range estimator I will ever use, is my eyes, my brain, and my foot. If on a long drive where maximizing battery utilization I always do the math in my head to ensure the MPK gets me where I need to go (with buffer) and throttle speed to get desired efficiency.

 

[VAF84]

I've taken multiple 1800mi round trips. I run ABRP, then plug those stops into either Ford or Apple to navigate to each stop. On trips over 400mi each way, I actually run a second device with the ABRP route, and use my primary device via CarPlay or nav to go to each location. Then I make adjustments as necessary.

The cool thing about using ABRP is you can adjust your settings for it to use your preferred charging suppliers. In my case, Tesla has the least expensive cost with a membership, most reliable, and typically best located; so I adjusted the preferences to most preferred. I use EA as a secondary. ABRP will try to route me via Tesla chargers.

You won't be able to precondition this way, unless the Ford Nav recognizes the charger in its list of chargers, but IMO who cares as you will save time via these secondary apps. I long ago gave up on trying to source fast chargers on Ford Nav; especially since Tesla chargers would never appeared on mine. Maybe they've improved. Further, Plugshare/ABRP will sometimes show chargers that Ford doesn't know exist, saving you from potential major deviations. Ask me how I know.

 

[Piquette]

I recently took my first long distance road trip in the Lightning, a 1650 mile trip from central NH to Dearborn, MI and return. First, I gamed out the trip using PlugShare, determining primary charging stops, and where we would spend the night along the way. I also determined back up charging stations in the event I couldn’t recharge at the primary stops or my mi/kWh was much lower than my usual average (which proved to be unnecessary). On the trip I would use FordPass navigation setting my next charging stop as the destination, which then directed me to Apple Maps. I did it this way so the truck knew it was going to a charging station in case it needed to condition the battery before hand (also unnecessary given the mild temperatures), but it took us directly to the next charging station.

I will add that I primarily used Electrify America and Tesla charging stations, but had downloaded several other charging apps just in case. Comparing the EA to the Tesla chargers, I like the Tesla better. They are generally easier to access than EA, and do not have steel pillars surrounding the chargers which can easily bump and damage the driver side door.

 

[BarryGoyette]

I’ve found Apple Maps rout planning to be frustrating, as it often wants to park you on some random 30kw charger or worse, rather than routing you to a fast charger, and makes it hard to put your own charge stops in (and delete theirs).
As others have said, I use PlugShare or Tesla app to determine charging locations and then port that data to Apple Maps for directions. (Lately that’s been a crapshoot, as Maps often doesn’t want to take orders from the routing apps— so I end up manually entering occasionally). Hopefully iOS 18 will fix this.

 

[chrislightningnc]

Plan route on ABRP, note chargers you want to stop at, go to Ford nav in truck, lookup charger location, hit the "find charger near location" button, pick the charger, drive to it, in vehicle nav will prep for charging... charge, rinse, repeat.

 

[G-Zeus]

I use ABRP for longer trips that require multiple stops for charging, combined with an ODBC Bluetooth adapter to pull the SoC into ABRP. It works tremendously well, as ABRP also shows you the availability of the chargers at the next stop. Suppose you see it getting busier as you get closer. In that case, you can easily change to another station (especially useful if you're using Tesla chargers and want to go to one that is less than 1/2 capacity to ensure you will always have 2 spots open that are next to each other). And Bluecruise for the win, to allow you to make a few adjustments while you're driving!

Sponsored