ev trip planner google maps

Frequently Asked Questions

Why isn't charger xxx on evtripplanner.

EVTripPlanner gathers chargers from other sources, such as Tesla, Open Charge Map, and the Department of Energy. If a charger is not present, you can add it to the Open Charge Map database , but it may take a month or so to show up in EVTripPlanner because the database is updated infrequently.

Why doesn't EVTripPlanner work in the car's browser?

The Tesla browser is rather primitive and has poor Javascript support, so many rich web applications, including EVTripPlanner, will not work.

When will EVTripPlanner support the 60D, Model X, or other Tesla?

In order to develop an accurate algorithm, I need good data to learn from. You can help contribute data by using this app . In the meantime, you can create a custom car and try to tweak it to model the car you want. That's basically what I do.

How do I print the EVTripPlanner results?

As of now, there is no good way to print it, but there are a few workarounds. You can take a screenshot of your screen and print that (if you're on Windows 7, just search for the "Snipping" tool). Alternatively, you can download the CSV version with the link on the left hand pane and print the spreadsheet. Maybe someday when I don't have midterms or finals looming I'll get around to fixing it ;)

What do the colors of supercharger icons mean?

When you use the "Route Thru Superchargers" feature, the chargers along the route are colored according to the energy it takes to get to them. Green means you should make it fairly easily, yellow means you probably can but if you enounter a headwind or unexpectedly hot/cold weather, you may have to slow down, and a red border means that you probably can't.

Using the EV Trip Planner

How it works.

EVTripPlanner uses a physics-based model to predict how much energy your EV will use along your route. It accounts for:

• Speed: this is usually the biggest contributor to variation in energy usage. We use Google Map's traffic-based estimate of current speed, which you can adjust up or down with the 'Speed Factor'.
• Air density : this varies with temperature and altitude. The same level-road trip at a higher altitude takes less energy than at sea level since the air is thinner. Similarly, the same trip (without air conditioning or heating) takes less energy when it is hotter since the air is thinner. We determine altitude over the route using the Mapquest database and use your input for temperature.
• HVAC: the heater and air conditioner, as well as any energy required to heat or cool the battery pack, use energy...even when you're not moving. We look at your cabin temperture setting and your estimate of the outside temperature.
• On-board Systems: the computers and other on-board systems use energy, even when the car isn't moving.
• Weight & Elevation Changes: the weight of the car and payload (entered) are used along with elevation changes along the route to determine energy used climbing...and recovered during downhills.
• Friction, efficiency, regeneration: each EV converts electrical energy in the battery to mechanical energy at the wheels a little differently (and vice-versa). We account for these conversions and differences.
• Your Car Model: each car has different parameters for how they use energy in the categories above. EVTripPlanner takes the best data available to match our model to the actual measurements and published charts.

Trip Settings

Setting the parameters for your trip is critical to getting an accurate estimate of the energy that will be consumed. The most important setting is your "speed factor", which is how much faster or slower than the prevailing speed (as estimated by Google Maps at the time of planning the route ) you are going on average. Unfortunately, you can drive in different patterns and have the same average speed while consuming different amounts of energy. While these errors don't tend to be very large for long trips, the closer to "cruise control" you are at the average speed on long segments the closer the estimate will be. Also fill in payload, outside and cabin temperatures and your correct car model - these can make a significant difference.

Interpreting Results

EVTripPlanner has been used to plan over 50,000 routes for thousands of EV drivers. Many drivers report that EVTripPlanner predictions are very accurate - more than any other tool available. But you can't count on it being within let's say, 5%, all the time. You can hit unexpected traffic, weather conditions (especially headwinds) or have to make a last minute detour - so you should always have some margin for safety and a "Plan B" for where you would charge for any trip that is estimated to use more than about 80% of the available energy.

EVTripPlanner reports energy usage in two ways:

• kilowatt-hours (kWh) : this is the actual energy used in direct engineering terms. Unfortunately, the Tesla does not report kWh remaining in the battery, which makes this measurement difficult to use in practice.
• rated miles: this is how Tesla reports remaining range (rather than kWh). In order to translate the kWh used by EVTripPlanner's model to Tesla (or other EV) rated miles, we need to use some conversion factor. Unfortunately, Tesla does not publish this number and with recent software releases it may not even be the same all the time. Tesla's trip meter also doesn't measure *all* energy used (if you add up energy/miles used plus rated miles remaining, it doesn't add up to the miles you started with after the last charge). We have made our best estimate, and it seems to correlate pretty well.

Since exact weather conditions all along the route are difficult to predict, we provide a sensitivity chart that shows how much energy would be used over a range of winds and temperatures.

We are always interested in your feedback - good and bad, feature requests and defect reports. When providing feedback on route accuracy, please provide your route ID (after the ? in the URL) and information about your drive that might be relevant. Send to [email protected]

EVTripPlanner is maintained by Ben Hannel (with a little help from the rest of the family). Ben is 16 now and was 15 when he started working on EVTripPlanner. He will be applying for college in the Fall. If you like and use EVTripPlanner, consider making a donation to his college fund with the DONATE button.

• You can now create custom cars
• Adding the name of a supercharger (e.g. "Buckeye supercharger") will not result in the correct location because Google has not yet learned the addresses of Telsa superchargers. To add the supercharger in the correct location, click the supercharger's icon on the map then click "Charge Here".
• Elevation in tunnels is incorrect, so energy usage on routes with tunnels may be somewhat too high
• Dragging only works with routes with 10 or fewer waypoints.
• Thanks to my dad, Cliff Hannel, for directing EVTripPlanner with new features and bug reports and really making the entire project possible
• Thanks to my brother, Jordan Hannel, for creating the initial prototype of EVTripPlanner as a proof of concept
• Thanks to my sister, Tess Hannel, for helping with the graphic design and UI of EVTripPlanner

• Chargers are provided by Open Charge Map and the NREL developers API

How To Plan an EV Road Trip With Google Maps' Charging Feature

Your EV’s built-in Google Maps app is designed to keep you charged.

For electric vehicles with Google Maps installed, road trips have become a lot easier. The popular navigation app can now manage vehicle charging along your route, meaning you won’t have to stress over making it to a station before your battery runs out.

What can Google Maps do?

Multiple modern EVs — like models from Volvo , Polestar , GM, and possibly even Rivian — come preinstalled with a specialized version of Google Maps that can directly tap into the vehicle’s systems to keep track of your trip.

Maps works directly with compatible EVs to keep track of your vehicle’s battery levels, energy usage, and other metrics to make sure you don’t run out of battery halfway through your journey. With this, Maps can also predict what your battery will be upon arrival.

Specifically, the app will generate real-time estimates of your remaining battery on arrival, and if you’re predicted to run out of power before reaching your destination, the app will prompt you to pick a charging stop to add to your route. If you’ll need to stop more than once, the app will automatically add the necessary charging stops across the route, and these stops will be calculated into your trip duration.

How do you access Google Maps’ EV charging feature?

Google Maps’ charging features are available for EVs like those made by Volvo which have Maps integrated into the car’s onboard computer.

Most of these features will engage automatically while driving, meaning you don’t have to do anything unless prompted to (like adding a charging station to your route when Google detects that you’ll need it).

However, searching for charging stations is pretty simple:

• Tap the “Search” button, and the search menu should open.
• Then, search for charging stations.
• From here, you’ll be presented with a series of filters to narrow down your search.
• You can search by charger type, payment network, or charging speed — including a filter for “very fast” speed that only shows 150 - 350kW chargers.

You can also manually add a charging station when creating a route:

• Search for a destination, and create a route
• Once the route has been generated, there should be a button labeled “Add charging stop”
• Tap this button, and select a charging station along the route.

Along with this, Maps’ voice recognition can be used to perform most of these functions without having to use a touchscreen while driving.

Currently, Google has not added an equivalent to the mobile version of Google Maps. However, the app can still be used to find electric charging stations. This can be done by typing in “electric charging station” into Maps — the same way you would search for a gas station — which will then show multiple stations in your area.

Tapping on these locations will provide additional information, including charging speeds, charger types, and availability of each.

However, because the mobile version of Google Maps can’t connect directly to an EV, it isn’t able to collect any information on battery levels or usage. As a result, it can’t accurately add charging stops to any trips.

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I hope EV drivers weren't relying on the feature before —

Google maps can now pick the most efficient route for evs, previously, google maps' "efficient" routes were only for gas vehicles..

Ron Amadeo - Sep 7, 2022 8:02 pm UTC

Google Maps has pointed out "eco-friendly" routes for a while now. If you have a gas-powered car, the logic is something like the "smoothest" ride with the least stops and starts will have the best fuel efficiency. But what if you don't have a gas guzzler? Electric vehicles use the least power in basically the opposite situation: low-speed stop-and-go traffic.

Google Maps' newest feature will let you pick your car's engine type, with "Gas," "Diesel," "Electric," and "Hybrid" available as options for the eco-route planning to consider. Google says "in the coming weeks," the feature will roll out to the US, Europe, and Canada. Europe is also getting its first taste of Google Maps eco-routing, starting today.

Google says picking an engine type will allow it to "get the best route and most accurate fuel or energy efficiency estimates." The company says that "this technology is made possible thanks to insights from the US Department of Energy’s National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) and data from the European Environment Agency. By pairing this information with Google Maps driving trends, we were able to develop advanced machine learning models trained on the most popular engine types in a given region."

Once you actually get the update, from the route preview screen, tap the top-right menu button and then pick "route options." At the bottom of the screen you'll see an option for "engine type," and you can also pick "prefer fuel-efficient routes" if you want the default to always be the greenest route. If you're in a hurry, the fastest route is still available from the route preview screen and is still the default option.

Listing image by Google

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Channel ars technica.

If you’ve got an EV, Google Maps is about to become much more valuable

New updates address one of americans’ top concerns about owning an electric car: finding a place to charge.

Google has announced new features in its Maps app designed to help electric-car drivers find a charge.

The updates include a tool to help drivers find nearby chargers with real-time information about availability and charging speed, the ability to find charging stops on longer road trips and more detailed instructions about how to find chargers within parking lots and garages.

Google expects to start rolling out these features “in the coming months,” according to a blog post. Some will come first to people who drive a car that comes with “Google Built-in,” the company’s driver-assistance software. Google updated its other route-finding app, Waze, with information on EV chargers last month.

The update addresses one of Americans’ top concerns about owning an electric vehicle: finding a place to charge. Range anxiety remains a significant barrier for EV sales — especially for drivers who don’t own a house . Among people who don’t drive an EV, roughly half say they think finding a place to charge would be “extremely” or “very” difficult, according to a 2023 Washington Post-University of Maryland poll .

EVs make up roughly 7 percent of new U.S. car sales, which some experts believe is a tipping point at which electric cars will quickly become popular and take over the market. But lately, the EV market appears to be cooling off . Sales slowed in the first quarter of this year.

In addition to building more charging stations, companies can make driving an EV easier by building apps that help drivers find chargers, said Stephanie Valdez Streaty, director of Industry Insights at Cox Automotive. “That could be really helpful with mitigating some of those concerns about charging anxiety,” she said.

Find available EV charging stations

For electric-car drivers who need a last-minute charge, Google is developing a feature that can find nearby chargers with updated information about how many ports are available and their charging speed. The company says this feature will eventually be available to all drivers but will be available first for drivers with Google Built-in.

Plan a road trip with EV charging stops

The Maps update will allow EV owners with Google Built-in to plan where they can power up when taking long trips with multiple stops, such as a cross-country road trip. The feature will access information about your car’s battery life to suggest the best places to charge up.

The company also announced a search feature that allows travelers to look for hotels with electric-car chargers.

Locate hard-to-find EV charging stations

Some EV chargers are tucked in hard-to-find corners of parking garages. The Maps updates will crowdsource information from Google reviewers to generate more detailed instructions about how to get to a charger. According to the company’s blog post, the instructions might read something like, “Enter the underground parking lot and follow the signs toward the exit. Just before exiting, turn right.”

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Use Google Maps features built into your electric vehicle

Important:  This article is only for Google Maps built into your car. Feature availability or functionality may depend on your car manufacturer or region  and data plan.

You can get useful information for your electric vehicle on Google Maps. You can find your car’s battery level on arrival, get important battery alerts, and find compatible charging stations.

• Learn how to use Assistant on other platforms .
• Learn how to use Maps features without a data plan .

Battery on arrival

Charging Assistance

When you navigate to a destination:

• If you won’t reach your destination without charging, and you require only one charging stop, you’ll be prompted to select a charging station along your route. 
• If you won’t reach your destination without charging and it requires multiple charging stations, they’ll all be automatically added in along your route. The charging time will be included in the duration of the trip.

To add a charging station to your route:

• Tap Add charging stop .
• Select a charging station.

To report missing or incorrect charging station information, send us feedback on your mobile device .

Search for charging stations

You can search on Maps for compatible plugs with your car and choose what shows up in your results by:

• Charger types
• Payment networks
• Charging speeds

Learn how to add a charging station to your route before starting navigation or along the route during navigation .

If you add a charging station along the route, you’ll find a recommended minimum charging time. Charging times vary by the car’s battery on arrival, the car’s charging capabilities, and the station’s charging speed.

Tip: Tap a charging station for more info, like power output.

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• Electric Cars /

Google is adding some new features for EVs with built-in Google Maps

Google maps will now suggest charging stops on shorter trips, include a ‘very fast’ filter for charging station searches, and will show you in search results when a place has a charging station on-site..

By Andrew J. Hawkins , transportation editor with 10+ years of experience who covers EVs, public transportation, and aviation. His work has appeared in The New York Daily News and City & State.

Share this story

Along with other AI-powered search upgrades , Google announced a slate of new Google Maps features for owners of electric vehicles that have the company’s navigation tool built-in. The aim is to improve the experience of finding the right EV charging station and to plan trips when charging might be necessary.

Before we get to the new features, a fair warning: only a handful of EVs come with Google Maps built-in, including vehicles from Polestar , Volvo , certain General Motors vehicles , and Renault . ( Honda and Ford electric vehicles with Google built-in are coming soon.) EV owners who use Google Maps on their mobile device, or through Android Auto or Apple CarPlay, will not be able to use these new features.

For EV owners with Google Maps built-in, here are the new features being rolled out over the next few months:

EV charging stops for short trips. Drivers used to have to manually add a charging stop when planning a short trip, but now Google Maps will just do it for you. Google will even figure out the optimal charging stop to minimize the overall trip time by including driving and charging time and also taking into account the charging speeds at the suggested stations. Google will also recognize external factors like road conditions and your vehicle’s capabilities in making its recommendations.

New filter for “very fast charging.” Sometimes you want to skip all the Level 2 chargers and head straight for the fast ones. For those moments, Google Maps will now allow you to filter for “very fast charging” of speeds starting at 150kW and up to 350kW. This gives drivers the option to see only the ultra-quick charging locations when searching for a nearby station.

EV charging shown in search results. When you’re searching for something, like a grocery store, Google Maps will now show you whether there’s an EV charger present in the search results. That could be useful when you’re running some errands and need help choosing between a couple of nearby locations. Maybe the presence of an EV charger will help tip the scales.

None of these new features are game-changers necessarily, but taken together, they should help make the experience of searching for charging stations a little easier. Google has been incrementally adding EV charging features to Maps for years: everything from the types of plugs present at a charging station to whether those plugs are currently in use .

There is a host of EV charging navigation tools, from A Better Route Planner to PlugShare to Chargeway . All have their upsides and downsides. But with these new updates, Google Maps may soon rise to the top of the list of preferred services by EV owners. Let’s see what happens when they roll these features out to mobile Maps users.

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This new Google Maps feature is game changer for EV drivers

Electric vehicle drivers are getting a little extra help on the road from Google Maps.

Google Maps and Search is rolling out new features tailored just for electric vehicles, including specific information on the location of EV chargers and hotels with on-site chargers. Maps will also help drivers plan charging stops on their travels in real time.

In 2023, 1.6 million electric vehicles were sold in the U.S., up 60% from 2022. However, one of the common concerns about owning an electric vehicle is that people don't know where to charge them.

One of the features now available on mobile is artificial intelligence-powered summaries detailing a charger's exact location since it can be difficult for drivers to locate where a charger is in a multilevel parking lot. Google created the summaries based on millions of reviews posted in Google Maps by fellow users, including what type of plug they used and charging time. In Maps, drivers get detailed summaries leading them right to the charger.

Google Maps is a solo traveler's friend: Expert advice for your first trip

While on-the-go, Google Maps' in-car map will also display nearby chargers, including real-time port availability and charging speed. While giving directions, Google Maps will also suggest the best charging locations on one- and multistop trips. The suggested stops will be based on the car's battery level. Cars with built-in Google will be the first to get these two features in the coming months, the company said.

To help drivers with their overnight travel plans, Google Search's travel page will also show hotels with on-site EV charging.

Kathleen Wong is a travel reporter for USA TODAY based in Hawaii. You can reach her at [email protected] .

Google Maps gets new features EV owners will love

N eedless to say, we’re seeing more and more electric vehicles (EVs) on the roads these days. That is especially true for the US. Well, Google has decided to add some new features to Google Maps , that EV owners will love. That goes for both Android and iOS apps , and the web client. Google Search is also a part of the equation, though. More on that later.

One of the new Google Maps EV features are AI-powered summaries

These new features will help you find EV chargers on your journey so that you can plan ahead. Google says that, in the coming months, it’ll “start showing AI-powered summaries in Google Maps that describe a charger’s specific location based on helpful information from user reviews”.

Why is this important? Well, finding an EV charger is not always an easy job. It can be located in a specific part of a multilevel parking lot or something like that. This way, you’ll know exactly where to look for it.

Google says that this is possible thanks to millions of reviews that users leave on Google Maps on a daily basis. That way, Google will be able to summarize the information for you to consume.

The company will also help you find the right charger for your vehicle

Google will also help you find the right charger for your vehicle. Google says that if you’re low on charge while on the road, you’ll be able to see nearby chargers on the in-car map. It will contain information including real-time port availability and charging speed. It’s also coming in the coming months, globally.

On top of all that, Google will show you suggested charging stops, forecasted energy consumption, and more. Last year, Google Maps started showing the best charging locations for vehicles with Google built-in. Now that is expanding to multi-stop trips. You can plan a multi-stop trip, and you’ll be able to see the suggested chargers along the way. This is also coming to everyone in the coming months.

The company will also include an EV filter in Google Travel

Google will also include an EV filter on google.com/travel . That way, you’ll be able to find hotels that offer onsite EV charging, making your trips a lot less stressful, as you won’t need to hunt for chargers.

The post Google Maps gets new features EV owners will love appeared first on Android Headlines .

Electric Vehicle Trip Planner

Easily find all the EV charging stations available along your route in North America.

To learn more about the different types of charging stations and how to charge before planning your trip, check out our guide on   ”How To Charge Your Electric Car With Charging Stations ” .

How To Use The EV Trip Planner?

To access the trip planner from the ChargeHub website, click on “Map”, in the top left corner of the navigation bar.

Once you are on the map page, you can open the trip planner panel by clicking the “Trip Planner” tab on the left side of the charging stations map page.

To enable the planner, click on the “OFF/ON” button so that it is "ON" . Note that at this point, you will have the option to select the unit of measurement by clicking on "KM" .

Once enabled the Trip Planner right sidebar will be displayed.

Enter Your Trip Details

Enter a “ Starting Point” and “ Destination” in the trip planner. It will suggest options based on what you input. Select the option you want, as shown in the following screenshot.

Now you have the option to choose how far away from your route you want the charging stations to be. Then click on "Find Routes". 

After clicking on “Find Routes” you will be asked to choose which route you prefer from the proposed routes as seen below, on the right panel of the Trip Planner :

Once you select a route, click on "Start Planning My Trip" and start adding charging stations to your itinerary, as explained in the following section "Add Charging Stops to your Itinerary".

Add Charging Stops to your Itinerary

At this point, you can add charging stations to your trip by zooming in on the map and clicking on map markers.

If you are planning to use the ChargeHub App to activate the station and pay , please make sure to select charging stations that have a golden thunderbolt in the center, as seen in the image below.

Only the charging stations that have a golden thunderbolt in the center are compatible with ChargeHub’s wallet app. You can pay for your charging sessions , across all available networks, at these charging stations, from within the app.

Once you have selected a charging station, all the information regarding the station will be displayed, on the right side of the screen.

Based on your EV and charging preferences, you can decide if the charging station meets your needs. If it does, add it to your trip by clicking "Add to trip".

NOTE: If you click on “See Complete Details” you will exit the trip planner and it will reset. In this case, you will need to start the whole Trip Planner process again from step one.

Once the charging station has been selected, it will be added to your trip as shown below.

If you need to add more charging stations, select and add as many as you need, by following the same process.

Save And Share Your EV Trip

Once you have finalized your itinerary you can: 

• Save your trip in your account for future reference
• Access your saved trips.

NOTE: To save and load a trip, you must be logged in to your  ChargeHub account.

Check out our other guides and resources on home charging

• A Beginner’s Guide to Electric Cars
• How to choose your charging station
• Top 9 most popular charging stations in 2024
• Incentives available in Canada for EV chargers
• Find the best EVSE solution according to your EV or PHEV

Browse the chargers on the ChargeHub Store

Find Public Charging Stations Near You

On test: The eight best EV route planner apps

• Jun 20, 2023

If you’re heading across the country in your EV this summer, an EV route planner app will help you plan charging stops along your route . With so many different journey planning tools available for electric car drivers, which is the best? Back in 2022 we did some of the work for you, testing the top apps and tools – and now we’ve done it all again a year later to keep you up-to-date this summer holiday season.

How do I plan a trip with my electric car?

A journey in your EV should be effortless, and the farm shops and other places you may stop add a bit more colour to your journey than a motorway service station. To go back to basics, when we talk about ‘planning’ we mean the following actions:

• Before starting a long trip, charge your EV to 100% at home.
• Download and sign in to at least one EV navigation app.
• Look for charging stations along the route in advance.
• Be realistic about how much time you need to add for charging.
• Pack your cable so that you can charge slowly while you are enjoying time away

What should I look for in an EV route planner?

A good EV planner should plan your route around charging stops with your EV in mind . That means knowing how long your EV can go before needing another charge. Some apps also factor in the terrain (hills) and the weight of passengers and luggage in your car.

EV planners should also help when plans change – with a good map that shows all the charge points around and checks that they are available.

Some EV planning apps also take the headache out of paying for your charging. Zap Map have a Zap Pay, and Octoverse lets you charge your charging to your home energy bill.

Our three golden rules for charging on EV road trips:

1. Stop rapid charging when you get to 80% (any more takes much longer); 2. Plan to stop driving at 20% (better for both battery and peace of mind); 3. Stick to the best networks. Our top picks are: Instavolt, Osprey, MFG and Gridserve.

The top EV route planners put to the test

The good news is that road trips in an electric car are getting easier and easier, with faster chargers – and more of them – dotted everywhere. But, although there are more chargers and they are more reliable, there are also more EVs on the road, so you are still better off doing a little planning before you set off on a long trip. Here are the top eight ev route planning apps we tested:

Zap-Map ABRP (A Better Route Planner) Watts Up Google Maps Plugshare EV Navigation Octopus Electroverse Bonnet

For each app we asked it to plan a 250-mile route from Aberystwyth, Wales to Essex in a VW ID.3. Scroll down to find out which of these we’ll be reaching for on our own road-trips, and which name left us wanting…

Zap-Map is the most well-known of route planners for EV drivers. It launched way back in 2014, and today the majority of UK EV drivers have it installed on their phones. Zap-Map has almost all public charge points mapped and around 70% showing live status data, so you can tell if a charger is in use.

Key features include search, filters, list of nearby chargers, detailed info on each charging point, Zap-Chat community feature and a smart route-planner.

There’s a free version, that allows you to do basically everything you may need. Zap Map ‘map’ has a bewildering number of pins because it shows all the available chargers, even the slowest 3kW chargers. You can filter these out to show only rapids. It shows you the cost and the availability (according to the charger itself) plus the hours or days since the last charge. Users often report chargers that are out of action. This gives you an idea of how reliable and/or busy the charger is.

The plus and premium version cost £29.99 and £47.99 per year, and give you a few extra features, like What3words navigation, enhanced filters and charger ratings to help you avoid the less reliable chargers. You have to pay for premium to get Android Auto and Apple CarPlay display in your car screen.

In-car display is a great feature, allowing you to see the details of each charge point including live charge point status data (where available) and the latest EV driver chats.The only downside is that if you are used to getting live traffic updates using Google Maps, you won’t get these when you’ve got Zap-Map plugged into your car.

Networks with live data on Zap-Map are indicated with an icon on their respective logos. Updated every five minutes, live data shows a blue marker around charge point icons when it is in use. Networks include: Instavolt, Osprey, Gridserve, MFG, BP Pulse, ESB, GeniePoint, Fastned, Ionity, Tesla, Shell, ChargePlace Scotland,

✔ Community chat is well used so you can see if a charger has had issues recently ✘  Charger colours aren’t particularly user-friendly (note: we found out how to get a handy symbols key in the app)

Sign up for the Zap-Map newsletter to get the latest on Zap-Map and charging news.

2. ABRP (A Better Route Planner)

A Better Route Planner (ABRP) is an app that guides you through the quickest way to arrive at your destination. It’s a website and an app for both Android and iOS devices.

A Better Route Planner is a smart, fun, and easy-to-use itinerary maker that lets you plot out routes in the most efficient way possible.

A Better Route Planner focuses on route planning and navigation specifically for electric vehicles. You have to simply select your vehicle model, enter your destination, and hit the big blue plan button to get a full planned route, including charging stations and trip duration.

It has a very simple interface. But change mode and you can see the hills on the route where you could use the most energy. Users say the results are very accurate, taking into account temperature and road conditions. Tesla drivers even prefer it to the Tesla Planner as it favours more charges within the efficient ‘fast’ charging zone of your battery than the Tesla app.

The free version allows you to share to Google Maps to get live traffic updates. The premium version has traffic built-in.

✔ Accurate predictions on range

✔ Shows you all the food options near your charger ✘  Live data on top charger networks only

Got the right energy tariff for your home charging?

EV tariff checker

3. Watts Up

Wattup shows live status for top networks – Instavolt, Osprey, and Gridserve and now live, as are smaller networks ChargePlaceScotland, ForEv.

Nearby public chargepoints are shown within the free CarPlay interface, this shows location, distance, power rating and live availability. And you can ‘favourite’ the chargers you like for quick reference.

We tried to upgrade to a trial version of ‘Discovery mode’ (cost £1 through Google Playstore), but it never worked and was impossible to cancel from the app itself, so we can’t even report on the benefits of that.

✔ Seeing the logo of the charge operator on the map makes it easy to weigh up best operator against best location (see our top network tips above)

✘ Not on your laptop or tablet, it’s only an app on your phone

4. Google Maps

You can actually get some helpful information from Google Maps as an electric car driver, but it is buried deep within the mapping interface. What we trust Google to do is show us the best route and to reroute us based on what’s happening with traffic, so it’s worth including Google in this list of EV route planners. We expect that Google are working on making it better for predictions.

On a desktop computer, All you have to do is plug in your journey details, tap the option for ‘search along route’, and then search for ‘EV charging stations’. Then Google Maps will present you with all the stations along your route, with details about the type of chargers available. On your phone, tap the three dots on the top right and then ‘Search along route’. You still have to type ‘EV charging’, but then you’ll see all the chargers on your route and can add a stop.

The problem comes if you get rerouted because Google finds a quicker route. Google will think you still need to stop at that charger.

✔ Live traffic on your route

✘ No help choosing chargers

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5. PlugShare

This app is most like Zap-Map, but it seems like it’s aimed at a US driver. With brown and green pins that look like petrol pumps, it’s looks are not inspiring. The PlugShare app can be used to plan a trips in a specific vehicle and shows you a map. It doesn’t show how elevation affects your range, just shows you the likely max range with a big green circle on the map – and that is either very conservative or hasn’t noticed what car we selected. You can filter by reviews, so you can see only the best chargers in other drivers’ opinions.

We were expecting great things from PlugShare, but in fact were really disappointed. For example, it showed us Tesla chargers for our ID.3 (not the one’s just opened up to other users) and it didn’t seem easy to filter away slower chargers.

✔ Easy to filter chargers by user ratings (this is Premium feature in Zap-Map) ✘  No option to share route to Google for real-time navigation from the app. And it let us choose chargers ‘along the route’, so we accidentally picked a Northbound charger on a Southbound journey!

6. EV Navigation

Back to the geeky end of route planning, EV Navigation , is a comprehensive solution for predicting the discharge rate of the battery with precision but it also manages to look simple. It calculates routes and takes the charging times into consideration. You can tell it how many people you have in the car and how you are likely to drive (sport, normal or eco), even the pressure in your tyres.

This gives EV drivers the ability to optimise their drive time and spend the least amount of time necessary waiting at charging stations. If you don’t like the look for the charging stop they suggest, it’s very hard to find alternatives.

✔ Great to see the impact of passengers and driving style, etc.

✘ Not very interactive if you don’t want to use the charger selected

7. Octopus Electroverse

Even if you aren’t an Octopus customer, you can join the Electroverse charging network. Sign up and they send you a card so you can pay for charging through your home energy bill or on a registered card. On some networks there is a discount for using chargers off-peak – Osprey will give you 20% off for charging after 7pm.

We like the fact that the map shows you rapid chargers (namely Instavolt and Gridserve) that aren’t on the network. Better still, the Electroverse card works across Europe, where an RFID card or app are still vital, as contactless payments are less common.

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Get £5 credit

On our latest review, the route planner now works from the app. The planner was made more difficult as autocomplete seemed to suggest lots of places in the USA with similar names. The route suggested was sensible, and you can send the route to Google Maps on your phone to get live traffic updates.

The map shows you all the networks in any spot, including those who haven’t partnered – of which the big names missing from their payments system are Instavolt and Gridserve. You’ll get a 20% discount on Osprey charging after 7pm.

✔ No more upfront ‘holds’ on your credit card, just pay it off on your home bill

✔ Great for European road trips

✘ Route planner doesn’t show you alternatives along the route, but you can use the app to see all the options

✘ Network doesn’t include Gridserve or Instavolt chargers (although you still see where these are on the app)

Bonnet is a payment app that lets you plan routes across the UK and Europe and access charging through a single app (or RFID card if you prefer). It is similar to the Electroverse app, except you can buy a number of Boosts which are subscriptions that get you a discount on all charging sessions. For £2 a month you can get 10% off charging, £8 gets you 15% off. The rapid networks to watch out for are Osprey, Ionity, MFG, and up and coming Evyve. It has also partnered to show untethered 7kW Connected Kerb chargers.

We were disappointed to learn that, just as if you had turned up to use contactless on a new network, Bonnet still has to hold £30 in prepayment authorisation for each charge you do.

Bonnet Premium does offer a route planning app for newer EVs. It is currently being offered for free as a beta product, but you need to add a payment method and will get a reminder if it ever starts to be a charged-for service.

We gave it a test, and found it very difficult to even find the route planning tool. (There’s a tiny bent arrow on the main map). The results, including one charger that was offline, were meaningless as they gave no information about the estimated battery SoC%, or charging time. On the bright side, it was easy to cancel Premium right there in the app.

Main features of the best EV route planners

The features offered by these apps are changing all the time. We’ve done our best to compare apps in May 2022 (updated June 2023), but if you have found any changes and would like to give us an update, we’d love to put things right. Email us at: [email protected]

Our verdict: Which route planning app is best?

We gave each EV route planning app a score for various aspects of planning a long journey. The best app scored 5, with the worst getting a 1:

By way of background, we’ve been driving an EV since 2019. We don’t often use public charging, as most of our journeys can be completed with home charging. We have always used Zap-Map to plan trips and Google Maps to navigate to avoid traffic jams and hold-ups. We stick to the better charger networks (see the golden rules above), and try and avoid charging when the roads are busy. Probably as a result of this, our experience of rapid charging in the last year is generally quite positive.

Following our desk-based research, we’ll be immediately retiring the PlugShare app. We’ll recommend Watts Up to our more anxious EV-newbie friends and relatives. And we’ll watch the newer EV Navigation for further developments.

Which is the best EV route planner app?

For our longest trips, we’d go to ABRP to provide the most accurate route planning. For the genuine ease of use (with one RFID card to almost end them all), we’d use Octopus Electroverse (and better still, you can get £5 credit when you join using our link ). Although we’d love to see payment links with the reliable Instavolt or motorway-based Gridserve networks in the future.

If you have a passenger who can check updates, Zap-Map is useful for the live charger status data for Gridserve chargers, but an update every five minutes could still leave you waiting for a charger, so it’s probably best to head to a larger site anyway.

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Best EV Trip Planner Apps

Taking the anxiety out of a road trip with an ev route planner.

• 3/8/2024 (updated 4/2/2024 )

For most people, the best EV trip planner is likely already in your vehicle since the navigation systems on modern electric cars offer the ability to plan a route that factors in charger stops along the way. That's just one of several EV trip-planning options that can help map out your ideal road trip while assuaging potential range anxiety from an inconsistent charging infrastructure. Let's take a look at some of the best EV trip planners available, ranked in no particular order.

Factory navigation system

Google maps, a better route planner, ev navigation, am i ready for an ev.

• EV ownership works best if you can charge (240V) at home or at work This typically means a 240V home installation, but you could also have a similar setup at your office or other places your car is already parked for several hours each day. Don't expect a regular household outlet (120V) to suffice unless you've got a plug-in hybrid, in which case overnight charging at home is feasible.
• If you can’t charge at home, charging at a charging station could take at least 10x longer than at a gas station With public charging infrastructure still in its infancy, the user experience can be maddeningly inconsistent. Tesla owners tend to rave about the reliability and speed of the company's proprietary Supercharger stations, but rival DC fast options have thus far been plagued by technical issues and overcrowding. It's an evolving landscape and our best advice is to do your research on the available options for the EV you want to buy.
• Adding a 240V home charging system could cost up to $1,600 or more If your existing electrical service can handle the additional demands of EV charging, you may be able to add Level 2 charging at home for less than a grand, including installation. But your costs will multiply if you need to upgrade your electrical panel or add a dedicated circuit.

Your first option is to use the built-in navigation that comes with your car. Most Tesla vehicles will insert recommended charging points along your route, taking a lot of the worry out of the experience. Teslas can also precondition your battery when you get close to a Supercharger station, which speeds up charging time and is better for the health of your EV's battery.

But not all vehicles come equipped with navigation systems, and the ones that do may not necessarily be your best option. Trying to map out your route ahead of time is more easily done on your phone or computer than by sitting in the driver's seat of your car. Luckily, you've got options.

You don't need to download a new app to get an EV-friendly route. Go to settings inside the Google Maps app, then select "Electric vehicle settings" and you'll have the option to select the compatible plugs for your electric vehicle. When you search "electric vehicle chargers," they will be filtered by the plug you selected in settings. This makes Google Maps handy for finding a charger you can actually use, but it cannot currently add charging stops to your route. It also can't tell you whether or not the charger is available, occupied, or in working order.

Google and Apple Maps are great for route planning on the go. But if you want to plan out your stops ahead of time, you may want to consider A Better Route Planner ( ABRP ). It's available on either your desktop computer or as an application for your smartphone. It allows you to provide information on your vehicle, including how full its charge is when you depart, and to filter out plug types based on your vehicle. ABRP offers a lot of information, including what it expects your vehicle's battery level will be when you arrive at your destination and how much energy you need to add at charging stops.

Unfortunately, ABRP can be a little clunky to use — especially on your phone. If user-friendliness is your top priority, you might want to consider using another application.

The EV Navigation planner is also available on your phone as an application and as a desktop site. It allows you to input the make and model of your vehicle, its battery level, the number of passengers in the vehicle, and the minimum state of charge you'd like your vehicle to have at your destination. Using those inputs gives you a route complete with charging stops. The app will provide estimates for how long you'll need to charge at each stop, what state of charge you should be charging to, and detailed information on the station. The app can be a little confusing and finicky for first-time users, and it's not great as a navigation app. However, it's a great tool for planning.

Edmunds says

The features and functionality of these EV trip planners can change over time, so make sure to try several of them to see which one works best for your needs.

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Electric Vehicle Trip Planner

Plan your next electric vehicle road trip and choose from more than 30,000 charging stations in Roadtrippers.

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Classic American Road Trips

Explore the country in your electric vehicle. Here’s some of our favorite trips. Save them to your profile and start adding charging stations along your route.

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Finding a place to charge your EV is easy with Google Maps

Apr 23, 2019

[[read-time]] min read

If you’ve ever driven to an electric vehicle (EV) charging station only to find that all ports are occupied, you know that you could end up waiting in line for anywhere between minutes to hours—which can really put a damper on your day when you have places to go and things to do.

You can search for real time EV charging information on Google Maps on desktop, Android, iOS and on Google Maps for Android Auto. To get started, update your Google Maps app from the App Store or Play Store .

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