> or at least that it could and should be far far simpler.

It is far, far simpler. A Better Routeplanner will make it simpler for TheLoafOfBread.

Uh, what about all the other issues they raised? About cost? About charging time? About charger compatibility? About the inability to effectively charge at home? The clunky app-based payment methods?

TheLoafOfBread will have a better time using better charging networks, the ones he will set up as his preferred charging providers in A Better Routeplanner.

Instead of talking in circles, just try A Better Routeplanner.

This thread is getting a little deep, but to close it out, I decided to indulge you and plan a somewhat typical commute for me from a while back. The total trip time including charging ends up being 3 hours. The same trip sans charging times is under 2 hours. That's 5 hours a week extra that I would be losing out. The trips are also short enough that I also don't need a break that sitting around waiting for charging would provide. The total distance would also use up almost a full charge, so if I start the morning with a full charge, I would still end up needing a long stop somewhere to charge up at the end of the night. I would also be unable to reliably charge at any of my destinations because of either lack of availability of facilities where I could park and leave my car for multiple hours to charge, or because the available facilities are meager (Here's a 120v 15A outlet, have fun charging much at those speeds). So yes, I will agree, ABRP does simplify things. I couldn't imagine having to deal with finding the charging stations and planning out my route without a tool like that. But all of the problems it seems to me that it solves are ones that arise from having an EV.

Here's my idea of simple: No apps needed, I pull up to the charger, any charger, I get out of the car, tap my credit card on the payment terminal, plug the charging cable into my car, stand around for 2-3 minutes while my car recharges to 100%, unplug, grab my receipt and drive off. If I'm on a long trip and starting to get low on charge, I look for the next charge station sign I see. Basically, exactly like a gas station is right now. My understand of TheLoafOfBread's comment was that they were thinking along the same lines as me.

ABRP does very little to move the needle towards this version of simple. It can't make charging times shorter than what is physically possible, it can't offer you charging stations that are as ubiquitous as gas stations, it can't enforce having the same easy to use connector at every charge station. It has a role to play, a small one, and frankly not terribly interesting one.

We are talking in circles, so perhaps it's time to finish the conversation.

> The total trip time including charging ends up being 3 hours. The same trip sans charging times is under 2 hours.

Hey, super. Show the trip and the car. Let's see it.

> So yes, I will agree, ABRP does simplify things. I couldn't imagine having to deal with finding the charging stations and planning out my route without a tool like that.

Good. So there was nothing for you to argue about from the beginning.