Road-tripping an electric vehicle (EV) can be a daunting task. Even though charging infrastructure is regularly improving, public charging stations are still not as common as gas stations. Luckily, there are many resources out there to plan your EV road trip.
Planning a Road Trip in Your EV
- Benefits of using an EV trip planner or EV route planner
- Factors to Consider when Planning an EV trip
- Tips for Optimizing Your EV Trip Plan
- Our Favorite Trip-Planning Apps
- Tips to Remember When Using a Trip-Planning App
- Conclusion
Benefits of using an EV trip planner or EV route planner
Knowing where and how to charge is a critical piece of EV ownership, and it can be a new experience if you typically do most of your charging at home.
We recommend planning ahead for your road trip, as new charging stations are regularly coming online every day, and chargers also sometimes go offline. To find them, you can use either your car’s onboard trip planner or an app on your smartphone. A route planner takes the guesswork out of EV charging.
Using your onboard route planner is the simplest way to road-trip. Simply enter your destination and let your car work out the best route, including charging stations along the way and how much time you’ll need to dedicate to charging at each stop.
In some cases, you can set your desired state of charge (SoC) at arrival — in case you have limited charging at your destination — and the app will recommend stops as necessary to get you there at that SoC.
Tesla’s native route planner is one of the best in business, especially when combined with the automaker’s impressive network of Tesla Superchargers. Ford and Kia also have robust onboard route planners, which until recently were limited to public charging stations like Chargepoint and Electrify America.
If your EV has Android Auto or Apple CarPlay, you can always enter your destination and add stops in Google Maps. Third-party apps like A Better Route Planner and Chargepoint are also helpful tools for finding reliable charging along your route.
Factors to Consider when Planning an EV trip
When route planning, check if your destination has reliable charging for your trip home. Plan to stop at the fastest available stations to minimize your time on the road, and familiarize yourself with your charging stops in advance. Be aware that DC fast chargers vary in speed: Using one that can only charge at 50 kW when your car can manage speeds up to 250 kW is a waste of time.
Make sure you are planning stops at stations where you have a membership. It can be annoying to download a new app from the app store and create a new account on the fly before you can charge your car.
Finally, it’s important to know where your planned charging station is located in relation to the highway. DC fast charging stations are usually found in shopping centers or near gas stations, but sometimes they are not. Because charging sessions will generally take about 30 minutes, stopping somewhere with facilities may be important.
Tips for Optimizing Your EV Trip Plan
Our main tip for optimizing your EV road trip is understanding what your vehicle’s charging curve looks like during DC fast charging. To protect EV batteries, battery-management systems will decrease charging speeds as the state of charge increases.
In real-world charging scenarios, this means it’s best to fast charge to around 80% unless you really need more range to reach your next stop. If you are on a longer road trip, we recommend that you charge enough to reach your next stop plus a buffer of 5 to 10%.
If your trip goes off-script and you choose to explore a new area or stop for an unplanned restroom break, try to plug in and add charge any time you stop. Aim to always be charging, and maybe you can extend the next stop. Even if your only option is a Level 2 charger, it is always recommended to add range on a long trip.
Our Favorite Trip-Planning Apps
There are some great third-party apps available that help with EV road-tripping.
A Better Route Planner: This app, also known as ABRP, is one of the best EV route planners available. This app allows you to enter your car and your desired state of charge on arrival. After you enter your starting point and destination, ABRP will calculate the best charging stops and charging times. The app will even tell you what percentage charge you should aim to reach, as well as your estimated state of charge when you pull into each station.
PlugShare: This is one of our favorite EV-specific apps. It shows you all available public charging stations in your area, from grounded outlets in a parking garage to DC fast chargers from Tesla or Electrify America. Users can check in at these charging stations and leave reviews. PlugShare is a great resource to find user-reported issues with a station.
ChargeHub: We've been using this app for a while now, every time we have an EV in for testing and reviews. It's an aggregator of sorts, showing you charging stations from a variety of different providers. You can also filter by the type of charge port you're looking for, the charging speed you need (Level 1, 2, or DC fast-charging), free stations only, or specific brand/company. The downside is this app is primarily aimed at just a handful of U.S. cities.
Other options: Finding real-time charger availability can be more difficult. Pulling up to a station and having to wait for a charge can be a frustrating experience. For most charging networks, downloading the network’s specific app will help you have the best experience.
Apps from charger providers like EVGo and Electrify America show their charger availability. PlugShare also does a good job of showing availability; however, it is based on users checking in during their charge. Tesla, with its native charging network and route planning, again does a good job of keeping you up to date on charger availability.
Tips to Remember When Using a Trip-Planning App
Not all chargers are equal: DC fast chargers range from 50 to 350 kW. Generally, the higher the number, the faster the charger. However, all EVs have a charge curve. When the battery is at a lower state of charge, it will charge at higher speeds, and it will slow down as it “fills up.” In many cases, charging from 90% to 100% is not much quicker on a DC fast charger than on a Level 2 AC charger.
We recommend keeping your DC fast charging to below 90% and charging beyond that as necessary, just enough to reach your next charging stop or your destination. It is important to give yourself a buffer, as the onboard computer may not be the most accurate.
Like an ICE car showing your fuel economy, these calculations are based on your current driving habits. It’s always possible you may be driving on a higher-speed highway on the next leg of your trip or find yourself driving into a stiff headwind, reducing your driving range.
Finding the best charger along your route: This is where an app like PlugShare shines. You can look at recommended charging stops along your route, find data on how quick these chargers are, and read recent reviews from other EV drivers who have charged there recently. Sometimes it may be best to take an alternate route, focusing on the distance between chargers and jumping from fast charger to fast charger.
Because EV charging infrastructure is still developing, following a route optimized for the shortest distance may not necessarily get you to the best charging stops along the way.
Charger location is important as well. Many companies are installing chargers at rest areas and truck stops, but sometimes you may need to venture further off the highway to a shopping mall or plaza to charge. Depending on the time of day, this might mean facilities are limited.
Conclusion
Road-tripping an EV is not so different from taking a trip with a traditional gas car. Plan to spend a little extra time charging, since charging stops are still not as quick as filling up with gasoline. Don’t let range anxiety stop you from taking your EV on a long trip!
