There are many ways to make electric driving easier and more fun. For example, you will find many charging solutions with us, including handy wall boxes, complete charging stations and of course even cable holders for your charging cables. However, when you are on the road with your electric car, you have very little use for it. For those moments there are apps, which are often called route planners but are actually much more than that.
A Better Routeplanner, abbreviated as ABRP, is one of the apps that has been specially developed to make your life easier and more fun. In order to benefit optimally from this, you may need an OBD dongle. Below you will find all the information about the app and the OBD dongle for ABRP so that you know immediately what you need for your car and situation.
Why choose a route planner app for your electric car?
Although charging infrastructure is steadily improving across Europe and coverage is already very strong, this does not mean that you will automatically come across a fast charger when you need one. On the contrary, many fast charging plazas and charging stations are not yet signposted, meaning that you often notice them as you drive past, which is not very practical when you are on the motorway in Germany, France or Belgium.
Charging apps have been developed to solve this problem. Not only do they often list almost all AC charging stations, as well as fast chargers, you can also use them as a route planner. With the better apps you can enter numerous factors, in order to get a travel schedule that fits you and your EV seamlessly. This includes things like:
- The desired battery percentage upon arrival;
- The battery percentage at the time of departure;
- The model EV you drive;
- What type of chargers (fast chargers, AC chargers, charging stations from a specific provider) you want to use.
The more information you can enter, the better the app is able to plan a route that perfectly suits your situation. Keep in mind that many route planners are much more than just a route planner these days. For example, there are apps in which the community shares information about all charging stations, many apps can also be used as a payment option with charging providers and in the better apps you can now also see what there is to do near the charging square.
Is ABRP the best route planner for you as an EV driver?
A Better Routeplanner is one of those apps where you can literally find everything and therefore the app can hardly be called a route planner, although that is in stark contrast to its own name. ABRP allows you to collect much more information and is a free app (in-app purchases and subscriptions, including for linking to your infotainment system, do apply) and can be used on the computer and on your mobile phone.
In the app you can enter all the information the app needs to create a customized route. For example, you can easily select the model of car you drive, fill in the battery percentages for the time of departure and arrival and you can even enter intermediate destinations, which is useful if you want to stay overnight somewhere during your trip to the South of France by car.
At the time of writing, ABRP is the most used charging app among Dutch EV drivers and stands head and shoulders above the rest, which is mainly due to the ease of use and versatility of the app. Please note that the app itself is free, but that costs are charged for (many of) the functions that are offered. Always check whether you really need a certain function before the app suddenly becomes unnecessarily expensive.
How can you use the ABRP app even more conveniently in your electric car?
The fact that you can fill in so much information and factors at ABRP is useful because the app is able to put together the perfect travel schedule for you and can immediately indicate how much time you need at the various charging stations. But constantly entering all that information is not very practical. Certainly not when you are driving alone and therefore cannot do this during the trip itself.
There is a handy solution for this. With the OBD dongle (On-Board Diagnostics), ABRP communicates directly with your car's computer, which means that this information no longer needs to be entered. Although ABRP can also be used without an OBD dongle, more and more people are opting for this connection. Not only because it saves a lot of time, but also because the route is considerably more accurate and the ABRP app is able to adjust the route when necessary.
The convenience of an OBD dongle for ABRP
With an OBD dongle, the A Better Routeplanner app receives all relevant information, such as consumption (kWh per kilometer), speed, current battery percentage and even the traffic situation you are in. This means that the app constantly receives the important data, without the EV driver having to enter it manually. This not only makes it easier for ABRP, but especially for you.
Please note: If you drive a Tesla, you will need an adapter cable, as Tesla models have a different diagnostics connection in the car.
Order your own OBD dongle from us today
Are you one of the loyal ABRP users or are you looking for a charging app that really makes it easier to make long journeys (even throughout Europe) with your electric car? Order the OBD dongle today, so that you can enable the ABRP app to put together the perfect route for you.
If you order before 5:00 PM, we will ensure that the dongle is shipped the same day, so that you can soon benefit from the convenience of the ABRP app with OBD dongle.
