[Rina Solis]

I’m still on the fence about going electric and one thing I keep wondering about is longer trips. Like if I just use Google Maps or Waze, is that enough to find chargers along the way or do people usually need a separate app for that? I don’t want to be that person stressing about range the whole time. My commute is short so it’s mostly the weekend drives that worry me a bit.

[HarperL]

Google Maps has gotten better at showing chargers but I still open a charging app before a longer drive to make sure the ones on my route are actually working. The nav app gets me there fine, it just doesn’t tell me much about whether the stall is free or busted. For weekend trips that extra check has saved me a couple of annoying detours.

[Noah Kent]

I’d push back a little on treating the car’s built-in nav or a phone app as the whole plan. From what I’ve seen with friends who run EVs, the regular map is fine for getting you there but it doesn’t really know if a charger is working or if it’s going to be free when you roll up. One guy I know got routed to a station that turned out to be behind a gate at a hotel, which is the kind of thing a generic map won’t tell you. The separate apps are annoying to juggle but they carry the live status stuff. I’m still weighing whether that hassle is worth it for me, since most of my driving is local anyway. Curious whether the newer cars handle that automatically now or if you’re still stuck checking two things.

[Rina Solis]

I don’t have an EV yet, so I can’t say from experience whether the newer cars handle that automatically. My weekend drives are usually just a couple hours out and back, so I’m mostly wondering if that’s even enough distance to make the extra app juggling worth it for me.

[Noah Kent]

For a couple hours out and back, I’d say the extra app juggling is probably not worth it yet. That’s basically one charging stop at most, and you can just glance at the station’s own app the night before rather than planning the whole route around it. What I’d actually do is look at whether your regular weekend destinations even have chargers nearby, since that matters more than the app situation.

[Maya Singh]

I’ve done a few longer weekend drives in my EV and I still keep a charging app on my phone as a backup, but I don’t treat it like the main plan anymore. What caught me off guard early on was how much charger availability changes on weekends, like a spot that looked fine on a map had a line of cars when I got there. So now I mostly use the regular nav for the route and just glance at a charging app to sanity check the stops before I leave. It’s less about range stress and more about not wasting time rolling up to a busy charger. For a short commute it honestly wouldn’t matter, but for the weekend stuff I like having that extra peek. How far out are your weekend drives usually?

[Rina Solis]

Usually just an hour or two each way, sometimes a bit more if we’re visiting family. That’s kind of why I’ve been going back and forth on whether I even need a separate app for that kind of trip, since it sounds like the busy charger thing matters more once you’re doing longer days.

[Maya Singh]

That makes sense, an hour or two each way is right in that zone where you can mostly just go and not build a whole ritual around it. If it were me I’d probably still keep one app installed just so the first time a charger is busy or dead you’re not doing it from scratch in a parking lot. Not something you need to check every trip, more like keeping a spare key around. For that distance the nav alone will get you there fine.

[Mike Steel]

Google Maps got me to a charger last month and the charger was dead. Car’s nav had no clue either. Now I check plugshare before I commit to a stop, takes two minutes.

[Emma_RD]

I mostly just use the car’s built in nav for longer drives and it has been fine for finding a charger when I need one, though I do like having a second opinion on my phone for peace of mind. The one thing I’ve started doing is checking the charger location on street view before I commit, because some of them are tucked behind a hotel and you’d never spot them otherwise. That little step has saved me a couple of awkward loops around a parking lot.

[Tom C]

Google Maps will get you to a plug but it won’t tell you if the thing actually works when you pull up. That’s the part that bugs me. I’d keep a second app just for checking recent check-ins before committing to a stop, especially on weekend routes where alternatives are sparse.

[Jordan Hayes]

I’d push back a little on relying only on the built-in map. Mine picked a charger on a trip last summer that turned out to be behind a locked gate at a dealership, which was a fun surprise at 9pm. Since then I peek at reviews before I commit to a stop. Doesn’t take long, just saves the headache.

[emily_r]

I would still keep a separate charging app on hand for the weekend drives. The regular maps are fine for getting you somewhere, but the last time I checked one for a charger it had no idea the location had been closed for months, which was a bit of a wasted detour.

[Nina Rogers]

I actually think regular maps handle the weekend trip thing better than people give them credit for. Mine showed me a charger with a coffee place next door on the last drive and it turned out totally fine. The extra app thing sounds like more homework than it’s worth for a couple hours each way.

[Alex Foster]

Regular maps are decent for finding a plug in a pinch, but I wouldn’t count on them for a relaxed weekend trip. Mine tends to show chargers that are a bit out of the way or at a dealership that’s closed on Sundays, and that gets old fast. One extra app for the actual charging stops has been worth it for me. What kind of weekend drives are you thinking, like a couple hours out or longer?

[Rina Solis]

Mostly a couple hours each way, sometimes a bit more when we visit family. That’s why I keep going back and forth on whether a whole separate app is worth it for that kind of trip. The closed dealership thing would bug me though.

[Alex Foster]

A couple hours each way is right around where a separate app stops feeling like overkill. That’s enough distance that one bad stop can eat a chunk of your day, so I’d rather have the app that actually knows if the place is open and working. For shorter stuff around town I don’t bother, but for family trips I do.

[Tom W98]

Google Maps is fine for finding a charger, that part works. What it won’t tell you is whether the thing actually works when you get there, and that’s the part that bites you. I’d have a charging app installed just for that.

[Nina]

I’ve done a few weekend trips with just the regular maps app and it’s been totally fine for me. The one thing I like is that it shows charging spots right on the route so I don’t have to bounce between apps while driving. For me that’s been enough to keep the trip pretty relaxed.

[Author]

Posts