EV trip planner
Put in where you're starting and where you're going. You'll get real fast-charging stops along the route, how long each one takes, the battery you'll arrive with, and what it costs next to a gas car.
Explainer: why the last 20% takes so long
Drag the start and end charge. The shaded area is the energy you add; the power line is what the car accepts. As the battery fills, the car lowers the current to protect the cells, so power falls away after roughly half full and drops hard above 80%.
A typical curve shape, not any one car's. The U.S. DOE notes a fast charge to 80% "can take 30 min"; real curves depend on the car, battery temperature and the charger.
Explainer: where your range goes
Drag speed and temperature. Air resistance grows with the square of speed, so 80 mph pushes about twice as hard against the air as 55 mph. Cold weather adds cabin heating and a sluggish battery on top.
- Rolling, drivetrain, electronics 34%
- Pushing air (drag) 40%
- Cold: heating & battery 26%
Temperature effect from fueleconomy.gov (20°F: range about 41% lower with the heater, 12% without) and AAA's 2019 test (95°F: 17% lower with A/C, 4% without). Speed effect is a drag model assuming ~50% of energy goes to air resistance at 65 mph, and treating the EPA highway estimate as roughly 65 mph driving.
How to plan an EV road trip that goes the way you planned
Most range surprises on a road trip come from three things: speed, weather and waiting for the last few percent. The planner above accounts for all three. Here is what it does, so you can second-guess it.
1. Start from the EPA highway estimate, not the headline range
The big number on a window sticker is the EPA combined range, a blend of city and highway lab cycles. Road trips are almost all highway, and EVs are less efficient there than in town, the reverse of gas cars. So we start from the EPA highway range (fueleconomy.gov lists it for every model) and adjust it. For a 2026 Audi Q4 45 e-tron, for example, EPA lists 288 miles combined but 260 miles highway.
2. Adjust for speed and temperature
The EPA highway test averages about 48 mph and tops out at 60 mph. At 75 mph the car pushes noticeably more air, so it uses more energy per mile. Cold hurts even more: fueleconomy.gov reports that at 20°F an EV's range can fall by about 41% with the cabin heater on, and by about 12% without it. Hot weather with the A/C running cost about 17% in AAA's tests. The range calculator shows each effect on its own.
3. Charge in the fast part of the curve
A DC fast charger delivers its highest power when the battery is low. Past roughly 80%, the car lowers the current to protect the cells, and the minutes per mile added climb steeply. That is why several short stops from 10–15% up to 60–70% usually beat fewer long stops to 100%. Drag the sliders in the charging-curve explainer to see the effect for your car's battery size and peak power.
4. Keep a buffer, and a plan B
Arrive at each charger with some margin (the planner defaults to 15%), and know where the next site is if a stall is broken or busy. The map shows every mapped fast-charging site near your route, not just the chosen stops.
5. Driving at night
Long EV days often end in the dark, and fast-charging sites at big-box stores and travel plazas tend to be lit and staffed later than rural stations. Leaving after dark? Whether the drive gets a bright full moon or hardly any is predictable, and ahaboo’s narrated explainer on why the Moon has phases covers the reason.
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Questions drivers ask
How does this EV trip planner choose charging stops?
It routes your trip with OpenStreetMap data, models how much battery each mile uses at your speed and temperature, then picks the furthest mapped fast charger you can reach while keeping your arrival buffer. It charges only as much as the next leg needs, capped at the level you choose, because fast charging slows down sharply after about 80%.
Where does the range figure come from?
Every vehicle and trim comes from the EPA dataset published on fueleconomy.gov. EPA range is an estimate from standard lab cycles; the planner starts from the EPA highway estimate and adjusts it for your speed, the outside temperature and whether you run heat or A/C.
Are the charging stations real?
Yes. Fast-charging locations come live from OpenStreetMap (Tesla Superchargers, Electrify America, EVgo, IONNA and other DC sites that mappers have tagged). OpenStreetMap is volunteer-maintained, so a charger can be missing, broken or newly opened. Check its status in the network app before you rely on it.
How much buffer should I arrive with?
Many drivers plan to arrive with 10–20%. Use more in winter, on long climbs, in strong headwinds, or when the next charger is the only one for many miles.
Does it work for Tesla?
Yes. Pick a Tesla and tick "Tesla Superchargers only", or use the dedicated Tesla trip planner, which starts with a Model Y and a 250 kW charging peak.
Is my trip saved anywhere?
Only in your own browser (localStorage), so the form is filled in next time. Nothing is sent to us except when you ask the AI coach a question. See the privacy page to clear it.