Best way to plan a road trip

EVCar

Active Member
Verified Owner
Supporting Member
Joined
Feb 13, 2022
Messages
1,318
Location
Scottsdale, AZ
Cars
GT
What do you recommend as a best practice to plan for charging stops for a cross country trip?
As a newbie, I‘ve not been able to take full advantage of Plugshare, ABRP and ChargePoint apps.
Likely I’ve not learned to navigate these apps and set appropriate filters.
Is there an app that will tell me my anticipated SOC and nearby stations at specified locations on my route?
 
What do you recommend as a best practice to plan for charging stops for a cross country trip?
As a newbie, I‘ve not been able to take full advantage of Plugshare, ABRP and ChargePoint apps.
Likely I’ve not learned to navigate these apps and set appropriate filters.
Is there an app that will tell me my anticipated SOC and nearby stations at specified locations on my route?
I think Lucid Navigation does that. But I haven’t had road trip after version 1.2.6 improvement.
 
The lucid nav tells you all that info, but it’s estimates are based on you going speed limit all the way through I think. And it doesn’t adjust in real time if you decide to go at a different speed or you’re doing a long climb or for whatever reason you aren’t getting the efficiency it believes you should be getting. Still, if you account for that, then I think the lucid nav app is still pretty useful.
 
When I take trips in my Tesla on really long trips, I pick my route ahead of time to make sure there are chargers along it. There always are now, but that wasn’t always the case. I look to see if there are any spots where the chargers are particularly far apart, and if so plan to intentionally stop at the chargers before the dead zone starts. Past that I just get in the car and tell the nav to take me to the next charger 100-150 miles away. I typically want a break about that often anyway. I don’t even bother with navigating to the final destination until I’m on the last leg.
 
Thanks for all the replies.
I‘d seen a posting here about a few college kids pushing their Mustang E to a charging station and was just trying to be proactive for my son’s trip.
 
Thanks for all the replies.
I‘d seen a posting here about a few college kids pushing their Mustang E to a charging station and was just trying to be proactive for my son’s trip.
Like @martinmeyer, for my trip from Florida to CT, I mapped out the trip beforehand. I went on Electrify America’s website and identified every station I might use (21 or so). I then mapped how far away they were from route, how many chargers were at that location and kWh charging rates. I then checked availability of each charging station for a couple of weeks to see which ones were more likely to be occupied. I put together a spreadsheet with all that info and took it with me. The car was so comfortable I drove longer than I expected at the outset so changed my anticipated charging stops.
 
Like @martinmeyer, for my trip from Florida to CT, I mapped out the trip beforehand. I went on Electrify America’s website and identified every station I might use (21 or so). I then mapped how far away they were from route, how many chargers were at that location and kWh charging rates. I then checked availability of each charging station for a couple of weeks to see which ones were more likely to be occupied. I put together a spreadsheet with all that info and took it with me. The car was so comfortable I drove longer than I expected at the outset so changed my anticipated charging stops.
If you see any stations down on your route, report them ahead of time and they might be fixed by the time you need it!
 
What do you recommend as a best practice to plan for charging stops for a cross country trip?
As a newbie, I‘ve not been able to take full advantage of Plugshare, ABRP and ChargePoint apps.
Likely I’ve not learned to navigate these apps and set appropriate filters.
Is there an app that will tell me my anticipated SOC and nearby stations at specified locations on my route?
I have used Furkot.com in conjunction with ABRP and/or Plugshare.

It does require two windows to be open, map (no pun intended) and overlay data. Once done, it is best to export it to XL or as notes, so you can access it when there is no cell phone coverage.

FYI, if my MS states 350 miles on 100% SOC, I assume it will be give me only 280~290 miles. Yeah, I take away 20% off of stated range straight up.
I give an extra 30% of time over, what I would give an ICE vehicle to complete the journey. For an 8 hour ICE trip, I assume EV will take 10~12 hours.
I carry at least three adapters (110V, 15-40 & J).
I also carry a tent, sleeping bags as well (just in case we need to sleep in the car for the night, while its charging in some remote location. Or RV location.).
 
Last edited:
We’ve just finished our second roadtrip - Bay Area -> Bend -> Bay Area - 1500 miles
the Nav suggestions 1.2.75/1.2.76 are good - but - and it is a big but - they do not seem to update the %SOC

So I set off with a “plan” … (eg fill up at Anderson) but as I get closer (weather, driving style etc) have all made an impact, and so I tend to END the trip about 100 miles out from the suggestion, and replan. Typically it shows the SAME destination, but now with a better approximation of %SOC

I raised a bug/enhancement request with customer care - I wanted to know what Average it used to calculate SOC, and suggested strongly it needs to update the SOC every 5 mins at a minimum,.

All up —- I tend to look at ABRP in advance to confirm it is about right, but didn’t find any need during this last trip to look again.

We ONE Stopped from Bend to Bay Area - >700 miles on 21” wheels. V happy.
 
I also found this tool that might be useful https://abetterrouteplanner.com/
Thanks for the above information. I just used the site you referenced to plan a trip along with PlugShare. I like PlugShare scores for each charge station. I would prefer stations that have earned a 10 as reliability means everything when traveling in an electric vehicle.
 
Thanks for the above information. I just used the site you referenced to plan a trip along with PlugShare. I like PlugShare scores for each charge station. I would prefer stations that have earned a 10 as reliability means everything when traveling in an electric vehicle.
7+ is usually fine
 
I also carry a tent, sleeping bags as well...
You are way, way ahead of me.
I carry my credit card only.
(And my back up helicopter with my toothbrush).
 
Back
Top