EV Route Planning

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Long distances and how do I plan my journey? 

Before we get started, I’d just like to say a massive thank you to the people that have emailed in asking questions over the past couple of months. If you have a question, please email events@nottinghamevs.co.uk 

By far the most common question I get is, ‘when I go on a long distance, that journey to Cornwall lets say, how I know where to charge’. For a while now we have been used to getting in a car, setting the destination in the satnav and just driving. Then when you get low on fuel, you find the next station and fill up and continue the journey without really giving it a second thought. Back when I was younger, before satnav, I remember my parents’ using maps and printing out directions to places. Now I’m not saying that is needed for EVs, but planning is needed in most cases. 

Apps! 

We are all use to having apps on our phone these days and if you drive and EV, or are looking to, then there are some smart apps out there that make the job of route planning a lot easier. I’ve done several long journeys in EVs of 400 plus miles a day. The two apps that I use the most are Zap Map and A Better Route Planner (ABRP). Zap Map is great for finding almost all the chargers in any area, but the route planning in the app can be a little complicated. ABRP on the other hand is great for route planning and in most cases can link through your cars app to get live battery charge data. This helps with route planning. After the initial set up, all you do is enter the address of your destination and the app will work out the rest. Where to charge, how long for and a predicted arrival time. After I have the basic route, then I go on Zap Map to see if there are any other chargers near to where ABRP thinks I should stop. This means I have a back up plan if needed. Using this method, I have been able to drive to Edinburgh twice and Lands end without really any issues. 

Surely there’s a better way?

Some might say that it all sounds a bit complicated. As cars are getting more connected, is allowing car manufacturers to have access to the information that these apps can get off the internet. So, we are seeing cars able to route plan themselves without the owners having to look at apps. Meaning that you can just randomly decide to go to Cornwall and not need to route plan like you needed to do before.