[michaelkamen]

Greetings to all Bolt drives. Michael here, loving my Bolt, and new to the forum with a question: I understand Tesla offers to its drivers some kind of automated network analysis for route planning from charging station to charging station, between designated starting and end points. Has anyone found any similar tools for use with Bolt? Chargepoint shows locations of charge stations but only in vicinity of one location, so there is much work involved in planning a long trip. Any experiences or insights appreciated.

 

[fortytwopointtwo]

Grab the Plugshare app - it has a pretty good list of the chargers (it is user driven though, so new stations may not show up right away). It also has a route-planning tool (although, it is not the best imo).


I'd love a planner that assumes I will drive until 10% remaining, charge to 80% and hook me up with a route that handles the planning. Right now, I look at the route, look at the chargers on the way and plan accordingly.

 

[michaelkamen]

Thanks, I will check out the Plugshare app. Another question, in case anyone knows (or can suggest where better I ought to post this): In estimating the distance of a route that takes overall average elevation from start to end into account along with as the crow flies distance, I am using the pythagorean theorem. I think that will give a reasonable minimum distance of travel from which to calculate kWh needed purely based on distance (hence how many stops to charge). This excludes the additional energy needed to overcome gravity on the (net) uphill side of the trip. Does anyone know if there is a factor I can include, that estimates the additional kWh per degree of angle of elevation, or something like that?

 

[XJ12]

Does anyone know if there is a factor I can include, that estimates the additional kWh per degree of angle of elevation, or something like that?

several forum members have worked very hard understanding that:

http://www.chevybolt.org/forum/347313-post140.html

 

[michaelkamen]

Thank you XJ12, PeterE, and StanWagon, for the beautiful discussion and solution to this estimation problem. Much respect!

 

[Paul Gipe]

Thanks, I will check out the Plugshare app. Another question, in case anyone knows (or can suggest where better I ought to post this): In estimating the distance of a route that takes overall average elevation from start to end into account along with as the crow flies distance, I am using the pythagorean theorem. I think that will give a reasonable minimum distance of travel from which to calculate kWh needed purely based on distance (hence how many stops to charge). This excludes the additional energy needed to overcome gravity on the (net) uphill side of the trip. Does anyone know if there is a factor I can include, that estimates the additional kWh per degree of angle of elevation, or something like that?

Probably the simplest for you is the Route Planning function of the Chevy App. The specific route does take elevation changes into account.


Elsewhere on this site and others as well as my web site I've compared the results of several trips using three different planning programs: EV Trip Planner, GreenRace, and the Chevy App. Look for my trip reports.


There are also simple rules of thumb Tony Williams developed for using the Leaf. When carefully applied I've found that can be as accurate as the more sophisticated programs.



Paul

 

[Paul Gipe]

Energy Consumption Estimators, Trip Planners, and the Chevy Bolt EV

June 25, 2018, by Paul Gipe We leased a Chevy Bolt EV (electric vehicle) in November 2017. Since then we've taken the car on several road trips of varying distances. Based on these trips, I've tested the accuracy of three...[more]

 

[E Drivetrain Future]

News Coulomb is our most experienced Bolt EV cross country driver. He taught me that on the first leg leaving home, you want to drive as far as possible to the next charger using as much of that full charge you left home with. Unless a full charge is needed at the next recharging stop you should only charge to 80% SOC maximum for subsequent legs because the rate of charge really drops off after reaching 50% SOC. Unless, critically needed, 80% is the max because otherwise you are needelessly wasting time that would better be used driving, not charging slowly above 80%.
Winds are a big deal above 15mph. Rapidly dropping temps outside can ruin your day too. Plan a good 15% reserve when possible, maintain a close watch on the 2 range numbers--- what your GOM / REG range prediction on your DICU says and miles to destination on your infotainment screen using google maps off of your smart phone. Enjoy! Thanks.

 

[michaelkamen]

Thanks for this additional info. Plugshare (the app at least) has a trip planner (as 42.2 suggested) seems like a good solution. Did not realize there is one in the Chevy app too -- will look into it. Wow, you have done some research PG! Looking forward to studying it. EDF, thanks so much for the guidance -- it makes a lot of sense! Will keep an eye out for news coulomb too!

Cheers all,
mk

 

[Paul Gipe]

Post your results here when you can. It helps all of us.


Paul

 

[gern_blanston]

PlugShare
+
GreenRace
GreenRace has a model for the Bolt, although I needed to tweak the defaults a bit to get it accurate.
It DOES take elevation change into account. It's metric, but it works great.

 

[surgeonFWW]

News Coulomb is our most experienced Bolt EV cross country driver. He taught me that on the first leg leaving home, you want to drive as far as possible to the next charger using as much of that full charge you left home with. Unless a full charge is needed at the next recharging stop you should only charge to 80% SOC maximum for subsequent legs because the rate of charge really drops off after reaching 50% SOC. Unless, critically needed, 80% is the max because otherwise you are needelessly wasting time that would better be used driving, not charging slowly above 80%.
Winds are a big deal above 15mph. Rapidly dropping temps outside can ruin your day too. Plan a good 15% reserve when possible, maintain a close watch on the 2 range numbers--- what your GOM / REG range prediction on your DICU says and miles to destination on your infotainment screen using google maps off of your smart phone. Enjoy! Thanks.

When planning a trip where L-3 charging is necessary (and time is of the essence), I try to leave home NOT fully charged, but just enough to get to the EVSE with a 10% mileage buffer. Then, I only charge to a max of 80% (waiting to charge to 100% is extremely time-wasteful). I try to plan my charging around meals. I use the rule of thumb or losing (or gaining) 15+ miles for every 1000' of climb or descent.