Best Tesla Supercharger Trip Planners

Last Updated on February 24, 2023 by Rose Morah

Tesla Superchargers gives you an excellent travel experience, especially when taking a long road trip.

This is because they are fast, reliable, and convenient.

The good thing is that Tesla has distributed their Superchargers in the most desirable places with access to WIFI hotspots and restaurants, which makes long Tesla road trips enjoyable.

We recently did an online survey of Telsa owners to determine the most preferred trip planner apps they use when planning their road trips.

Based on the findings, when planning a trip with Tesla Superchargers, the following were the top three Tesla Supercharger Trip Planners;

A Better Route Planner (ABRP).
PlugShare
In-built Tesla route planner.

Related:

1. A Better Route Planner (ABRP)

According to the survey, most Tesla owners preferred the ABRP app over other route planner apps because its pros outweighed the cons, as shown in the table below.

ADVANTAGES	DISADVANTAGES
1. It is accurate.	1. Some beginner users report going through a difficult time navigating the settings.
2. It is fast (It does not take time to load).	2. Some users report that they experience many bugs when using the app.
3. Focuses on fast charging.
4. You can add waypoints.
5. You get real-time weather and traffic updates.
6. It gives real-time charger availability and forecasts. It also includes the waiting times!
7. You can add multiple vehicles.
8. It gives charging notifications.
9. It notifies you when your car arrives or leaves a specific location.
10. It allows you to share your live data with other ABRP users. This may be your friends or family. Plus you can also save your activities.
11. It allows you to watch your progress on Apple Watch.
12. It also allows you to follow your routes using Apple CarPlay.
13. Whenever I am experiencing a problem using it, I get fast assistance through the ABRP forum.

Pros and Cons of ABRP

See How‌ ‌to‌ ‌Use‌ ‌A ‌Better‌ ‌Route‌ ‌Planner‌ ABRP (With Illustrations).

ABRP is free, but for you to access more of its great features, you will have to upgrade to a premium membership which starts from 5€ / month or 50€ / year.

How to Maximize Tesla Range & Reduce Battery Drain on Tesla.

best tesla supercharger — Photo Credit: ABRP

ABRP Premium gives you access to the following features;

Real-time weather, traffic, and charger availability and forecast.
Access to Apple CarPlay and Apple Watch features.
Charging and Geofence notifications.
Allows you to share vehicle data.
Allows you to save and access your trips/plans.
Allows you to connect multiple vehicles.

See also:

How To Camp In A Tesla Like A Pro.

Is Tesla Full Self Drive Worth It?

How to plan a road trip with Tesla Superchargers on ABRP

Go to the Route Planner Settings.
Enable “more settings” (as seen in the picture below).
Scroll down and click “Battery and Chargers”.
Then click on the “Fast Chargers” option, choose your preferred Superchargers, and click done (as seen in the picture below).
If you would like to avoid specific networks then click on “Network Preferences”.
You can avoid some Superchargers by clicking on the chargers on your routes.

Turn on “more settings.”

Best supercharge trip planner — Image Credit: ABRP

Click on the “Fast Chargers” option

Best Tesla supercharger trip planner — Image Credit: ABRP

Cool and Must-Have Tesla Model 3 and Y Accessories.

2. PlugShare

I have used this app several times before, mainly because of the extra features that allow you to plan a long road trip effectively.

The following are some of the main advantages and disadvantages of using the PlugShare EV route planner.

ADVANTAGES	DISADVANTAGES
1. It allows you to set your charge and wait times.	1. It is not very accurate.
2. It allows users to find hotels/lodgings with EV charging stations.	2. The “Payment Required Mode” does not work 100%.
3. When planning a route, you can easily filter your routes to access specific amenities such as; > EV Parking. > WIFI. > Shopping. > Restroom. > Park. > Grocery > Valet.	3. It has no Trip Planner mobile version. Only the desktop version is available.
4. It shows you the available free chargers on your preferred route.
5. It allows you to filter your preferred charging locations. > Payment Required Locations. > Restricted Locations. > Residential Locations. > Currently In-Use Locations.
4. You can add up to 4 vehicles.
5. You can pay with PlugShare. It is available in the US and Germany.
6. You can easily view your recent activities and viewed locations.

Other PlugShare features:

It has an estimated drive time feature.
Users can add an estimated charge time (wait time) on the charging stops.

See: Best EV Route Planner in 2022 (According To EV Owners)

How to plan a road trip with Tesla Superchargers on PlugShare

You can use either of the two methods below.

Method 1

Click on the “PlugShare Location” and type “Superchargers” as shown below.

This method will show you a broad overview of the Supercharger locations.

Method 2

On the Menu, Click on the Trip Planner. (This feature is only available on desktops)
A dialog box that allows you to choose your location, language and units will pop out, as shown below.
Click on “Plan a new Trip”
A dialog box will appear on the right side. (As shown in the images below)
Add your starting point and destination.
Then filter to only supercharger as seen in the image below.

Click on the “trip planner” option. (Only Available on Desktop)

N/B: You’ll have to log in to get the best Tesla features.

A dialog box will appear on the right side.

PlugShare trip planner — Image Credit: ABRP

Filter “Supercharger”

How to use your planned route on mobile

Once you are done mapping out your supercharger routes on PlugShare, scroll down and click on view directions, then click “send directions to your phone.”

Lastly, the in-build Tesla route planner also made it on the list because it works well 99% of the time. We have discussed the in-build Tesla route planner in more detail here.