EV Road Trip Planning: Charging Stops & Checklist

The first question I hear about road trips in an electric car is never about the destination. It's "ok, but where do you charge?"

Fair question. A gas car lets you be lazy. An EV road trip asks you to think a little before you leave, and then it mostly gets out of your way. Here's how I'd plan one.

How EV road trips are different

The biggest change is that stops become part of the plan instead of something you do when the light comes on. Charging usually takes longer than filling a tank, so a good EV trip lines up charging with things you'd stop for anyway, like lunch or stretching your legs.

The other difference is that your range isn't one fixed number. It moves around with speed, weather, terrain and what you're carrying. More on that below.

Plan your charging stops (and a backup for each)

How many charging stops do I need? It depends on your car's real-world range, how far you're going and how much charge you like to keep in reserve. The simple way to figure it out:

1. Look at the total distance for the day.
2. Take your car's realistic range, not the best-case number, and leave yourself a buffer.
3. Divide, and round up. That's roughly how many stops you need.

Then pick an actual charger for each stop, and a backup charger nearby. Chargers can be busy, slow or out of order, and you don't want to find that out with a low battery and no plan B.

Write down the charge level you expect to arrive with and the level you want to leave with. That one habit makes the whole day calmer.

Overnight charging and where you sleep

If you can charge where you sleep, you start every morning with a full battery and skip a stop. When you're booking hotels or campgrounds, it's worth checking whether they have charging and whether you need to reserve it.

Can you camp with an EV? Yes. Some campgrounds have hookups you can charge from, but check the campground's rules and what kind of outlet they have before you count on it.

Weather, speed and range

Do cold weather and speed reduce range? Yes, both can. Cold weather generally lowers range, and so does driving at higher highway speeds. Hills, strong headwinds and a loaded car can too. I'm not going to give you a percentage, because it varies a lot from car to car and day to day. Your car's own estimate and your past trips are a better guide than any number on a blog.

The practical answer: plan with a bigger buffer in winter and on fast highways, and don't plan to roll into a charger on your last few miles.

How far can an EV go on a road trip? As far as you want, honestly. The question is really how far between charges, and that's your car's range minus your buffer.

Cost: logging kWh and spend

How do I track charging cost? Every time you charge, note how much energy you added (in kWh) and what you paid. Over a trip that tells you what the drive actually cost. It also helps you notice which stops are pricey, because prices can vary a lot between chargers.

JourneyDeck can keep a record of your drives, so you don't have to write it all down by hand. It's a road journal for iPhone, not a navigation app. You plan the route however you like and it keeps the record. If you drive a Tesla, I put together more Tesla road trip tips and a drive journal that go along with this.

Your pre-trip checklist

Before you leave:

• Charge to the level you planned for the first leg
• Save your charging stops and their backups somewhere you can reach without signal
• Pack the charging cable or adapter your car needs
• Check the weather on the route, since it affects range
• Pack snacks, because some charging stops have nothing nearby

Recording the trip

The stops end up being part of the memory. The weird charger behind a grocery store. The snack you only buy at that one stop. The time the range estimate dropped and everybody got very quiet.

If you want the whole set, the All Trips Bundle is $25. It's all four of my trip packs in one bundle: Road Trip, EV, Camping and Holiday. That's $42 if you buy them one at a time, so you save $17.

If you just want the EV one, I made the EV Road Trip Templates for that, $11 on my studio site (buy the EV pack). It's 12 Instagram designs as editable PDFs and ready-to-post PNGs. The 7 Stories include a charging stop planner with arrive and leave charge levels, a range check, charger etiquette, an EV packing list and a trip recap. The 5 Posts cover your favorite charging stop, a range win and the road trip playlist. It also comes with a printable charging stop planner in US Letter and A4, which you can fill in before you leave. You can upload the PDFs to a free Canva account to edit them, or post the PNGs as they are.

If you'd rather plan in Notion, start with my free Notion trip planner. It's one page for one trip, with a trip overview, itinerary, packing checklist and budget, so you can put your charging stops right in the itinerary.

EV road trip FAQ

How many charging stops do I need?

Take the day's total distance, divide it by your car's realistic range minus a buffer, and round up. Then pick a backup charger near each stop.

How far can an EV go on a road trip?

As far as you want. What matters is the distance between charges, which is your car's real-world range minus the buffer you like to keep.

Do cold weather and speed reduce range?

Yes. Cold weather and higher highway speeds both generally lower range, and so can hills, headwinds and a loaded car. How much varies by car, so plan a bigger buffer in winter and on fast highways.

Can you camp with an EV?

Yes. Some campgrounds have hookups you can charge from. Check the campground's rules and what kind of outlet it has before you count on it.

How do I track charging cost?

Every time you charge, note the energy added in kWh and what you paid. Over the trip that shows what the drive really cost and which stops were pricey.

And if your car runs on gas, my general guide on how to plan a road trip covers the rest.

So, where's the first charger on your list?