What should be on my EV road trip checklist?

The short version: map your charging stops in advance, charge to 100% before you leave, build extra time into your schedule, and confirm your roadside coverage and cargo plans ahead of time. Here’s the fuller checklist, with links to the details on each item.

Route and Charging

• Map your charging stops before you leave. Use your car’s built-in navigation or a dedicated app rather than finding stations as you go. See how to find public charging stations.
• Charge to 100% for the trip itself. The usual daily habit of charging to 80% doesn’t apply the same way on a long trip. See should you charge to 80% or 100%.
• Build extra time into your schedule. Charging stops add real time to a long drive, though usually less than people expect. See how much longer a road trip takes in an EV.
• Set up charging network accounts ahead of time. Creating accounts and adding payment methods in advance saves time at the charger itself. See how to pay at a public charging station.
• Know your options if a charger is broken or occupied. Having a plan for this in advance keeps a single bad stop from derailing your schedule. See what to do if a charger is broken or in use.

Vehicle and Cargo

• Check winter range if you’re traveling in cold weather. Cold weather can meaningfully change your charging plan. See tips for driving an EV in winter.
• Confirm towing capacity if you’re bringing a trailer. Towing changes both your range and your stop frequency significantly. See can EVs tow.
• Plan your cargo and think twice about roof boxes. Extra cargo capacity is available, but roof-mounted cargo has a real range cost. See how much cargo space EVs have for a road trip.

Just in Case

• Confirm your roadside assistance covers flatbed towing. Most EVs need a flatbed rather than a standard tow, and it’s worth confirming before you need it. See does roadside assistance work the same way for EVs.
• Know what actually happens if you run low unexpectedly. It’s a more manageable situation than most drivers assume. See what happens if you run out of charge.

💡 Tip: Start with your route and charging stops, since that single step shapes most of the other decisions on this list, including how much range buffer you’ll want and whether a roof box is worth the trade-off. See how to find public charging stations.