What data does ABRP use with OBD for range estimation? How good is it?

[richl025]

I use ABRP already for rough planning, but have never used it for a long trip and I have always used it VERY conservativelyu (ie, if it tells me to charge to 75% I will go to at least 80%)

I am trying to move past my range anxiety, here! I had one (shorter) trip this winter that I actually turned around & we took my wife's ICE vehicle, because of the winter conditions & elevation changes I was concerned I wouldn't have the needed range (L3 charging in Central Oregon is a bit sparse). I was probably overreacting, but did NOT want to get stranded in the middle of a winter storm in the mountains!

I have a OBD dongle and am going to link ABRP to my vehicle - I haven't been able to google though, what data DOES ABRP use for it's real-time estimations?

Outside temperature? Elevation changes? Speed limits on the roads?

Truck weight? Can it tell if you are towing?

Has anyone here done any "QC" on it's accuracy and can vouch? Or do you still add in a fudge factor?

Thanks to anyone who can chime in who has experience, here....

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[The Weatherman]

I don’t use the Pro version, but I do use it for planning without the dongle.

I do know it uses your realtime efficiency, current state of charge. In addition to elevation change data and weather (temps, winds and rain conditions).

Others who have used it personally will likely chime in shortly.

 

[Firn]

I do not use live data due to the lack of an appropriate adapter. That said I plan to keep it that way. As you drive the app shows what I thinks your charge should be at, with this you can see if you are exceeding or falling behind the proposed plan.

From what I have seen when planning it will use the weather, be it now, or in the future.

 

[mr.Magoo]

https://github.com/iternio/ev-obd-pids/tree/main/ford

 

[richl025]

https://github.com/iternio/ev-obd-pids/tree/main/ford

I appreciate the reply, but I do not do any coding, so the two files at that link were gibberish to me...

 

[Refactoringdr]

I have 76k miles on my lightning including many long road trips and even pulling a teardrop camper from Southern Illinois through the UP of Michigan for 2 weeks. I use ABRP (pro) exclusively when planning long routes. I don't use the dongle. I have it configured so it is slightly conservative (enough that I can trust its charge levels).

To get there, I started with the default lightning profile, and then drove a long loop starting at a known charge (80% or 100%, your choice). At the end of the loop I noted the final SoC in the truck. I then adjusted ABRP's reference consumption so that the planned trip predicted the same SoC as I ended up with. Over the next few trips, I adjusted it up or down to make it match. FYI, on my 2023 Platinum (bigger wheels than Lariat and other stuff), I ended up with a reference consumption of 2.00 mi/kwh.

The same procedure towing my teardrop yields (1.50 mi/kwh). The normal truck configuration is almost perfect even when ABRP has to factor in cold/wind, etc. My teardrop setting is a little too conservative, but that's fine.

Now that the pro level includes a CarPlay app that displays the route and what the model thinks my battery should be, I'm very confident on any long trip.

Hope this helps.

 

[B177y]

I have a OBD dongle and am going to link ABRP to my vehicle - I haven't been able to google though, what data DOES ABRP use for it's real-time estimations?

It uses all of this data:

Outside temperature? Elevation changes? Speed limits on the roads?

Yes. Yes. Yes.

Truck weight? Can it tell if you are towing?

In a roundabout way.... How these two variables effect the overall miles per kilowatt-hour is what is measured. Heavier weight and the bad aerodynamics of towing increase power use and reduce efficiency which is measured into the estimates. You also set profiles in ABRP for normal driving, towing, hauling, etc. that make best guesses at the efficiency for planning and become more accurate with the more data that you have from your OBD. You have to switch the profiles yourself in ABRP, so it technically doesn't "know" that you are towing unless you tell it to use that profile. If you don't switch profiles, ABRP will add the data collected from that drive through the OBD into whatever profile you are using.

Has anyone here done any "QC" on it's accuracy and can vouch? Or do you still add in a fudge factor?

Thanks to anyone who can chime in who has experience, here....

I used it for a 3500-ish mile road trip. It was spot-on! The ABRP/OBD is my go-to for road trip planning and driving when multiple DCFC is needed, especially in sparse DCFC areas. I purchased the ABRP Pro subscription and it is absolutely worth it to me. I wish Ford navigation and/or Google maps were this good.

 

[Firn]

The reference consumption is a good point. I did a 10 mile run on the highway, returning to my exact starting point. Then checked the consumption. Mine, a Pro ER with the 18" wheels, was very close to the default 2.25 reference. I adjusted my reference down a touch to make the app slightly more conservative.

Fwiw though I did two 1000 days and used ABRP the entire time. Over the whole trip ABRP was just slightly conservative, maybe 1-2% over a 50% SOC change. However on the last leg the outside temp cooled off and it did get too optimistic, ending up about 10% lower than planned for an arrival SOC (which was already 15%)...

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