To get started, all you need is a device with a web browser, the A Better Route Planner (ABRP) website lets you explore the planning features and get a sense of how the driving mode works. So, there is no reason not to dive in and see if ABRP might work for you.

If you think it’s a go, then a phone is pretty much required if you want to use ABRP for navigation and real-time monitoring of your energy consumption (and thus range and charging options). The list below breaks down the gear that you need or might want.

Essential

  • A phone that can run the A Better Route Planner app – pretty much any relatively modern phone running Android or iOS should fill the bill.
  • The A Better Route Planner (ABRP) app, you can download it from the your phone’s app store.
    • Android:
    • iOS:
  • A cable to charge your phone & connect to Android Auto or Apple CarPlay (even if your car has wireless charging & supports a wireless connection to Android Auto or Car Play). Wired connections seem less likely to result an overheated phone going on strike at an inopportune momement.
  • A hands free mount for your phone is essential if you don’t have Android Auto or CarPlay (or if you don’t want to pay for the ABRP subscription). Even with them a mount is quite handy since ABRP displays some useful extra information on the phone while you’re driving – most noteably the battery temperature.

Very Useful

  • An ODB2 “dongle,” this device plugs into the diagnostic port on your car and allows ABRP to monitor your battery in real-time. Not all dongles are created equal: security, compatibility with ABRP, reliability, and energy consumption are all considerations. There is more discussion and a list of known-to-work (and known-not-to-work) dongles on the Iternio website. Two reasonable options are:
  • The app for your ODB2 dongle: ODBLink for the OBDLinkC CX (iOS version Android version); for the Vgate vLinker MC+. It may come in handy for testing or troubleshooting, and if you’re inclinded to nerd out on data it can be a nice distraction during charging stops.

Nice To Have

  • A laptop or desktop computer for planning.
  • The ChargePoint app.
  • Apps for any of the charging networks that you use on a regular basis.

Optional

  • A NACS (North American Charging Standard aka Tesla) adapter if your car has a CCS plug, or a CCS adapter if your car has a NACS plug.