Car Road Trip

Best Tesla Trip Planner App in 2024 (According to Owners)

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Last Updated on January 24, 2024 by Rose Morah

If you’re planning a Tesla road trip, this article will help you know:

  • The best Tesla trip planner app.
  • The most preferred Tesla trip planner app by most owners
  • Tesla Navigation vs A Better Route Planner (ABRP).
  • When to use ABRP vs. Tesla Navigation.
  • What not to expect from all the EV Trip planners?

See also: Smart Tesla long-distance road trip tips.

Best Tesla route planner app

From experience and other Tesla owners, the in-built Tesla trip planner (Go Anywhere) and A Better Route Planner (ABRP) are the best Tesla route planners overall.

Of course, there are many other good EV route planners but these two are among the best and highly recommended for planning Tesla road trips.

In summary the following are the:

Advantages of using ABRP 
1. We find it to be the best Tesla trip planner for planning a more complex trip.

That’s mostly because it allows you to control how it plans your trips through the settings, compared to the In-built trip planner.

It’s also a great alternative to the In-built Tesla trip planner because you get more features and more flexibility when planning your trip.

Disadvantages of ABRP
1. At times, the ABRP user interface is not that good.

Advantages of using In-built Tesla trip planner
1. The suggested route on the In-built Tesla trip planner is very reliable.

2. The trip planner keeps improving, thus making it close to accurate. 

If you have been using the In-built Tesla trip planner for the past few years you’ve probably noticed the difference. It’s becoming more and more better.

Disadvantages of using In-built Tesla trip planner
1. At times, it can be very inaccurate. For more information, I recommend reading our article that covers this in detail.

Most preferred Tesla trip planner app by Tesla owners

We did a survey to find out what app other Tesla owners preferred using when going on Tesla road trips. 

Results from the survey showed that 99% recommended two route planner apps: (Tesla navigation and ABRP) and only 1% recommended Waze and Plugshare.

The table below shows a summary of the survey results;

Recommended Tesla Route Planner% votes
Tesla Navigation (Go anywhere)
A Better Route Planner (ABRP)
Others (Plugshare & Waze)
82% votes 

17% votes

1% votes

The in-built Tesla trip planner has drastically improved over the years and that’s why it is still preferred by so many Tesla owners. 

Tesla Navigation vs A Better Route Planner (ABRP)

The following are the main differences between the two:

Tesla Navigation (Go Anywhere)A Better Route Planner (ABRP)
1.The range estimate is about 85% accurate. 

Tesla is great at calculating how much battery you are going to use on your trip. 

It gives near-accurate battery consumption even when your trip is at different altitudes. 
However, it does not consider other variables that may affect the range.
It is also about 85% accurate but can be more accurate if you input everything correctly.

For example, it will be more accurate if you correctly input the starting battery charge, extra weight, driving speed, temperature, etc.




2. Not the best for planning fast road trips.

The in-built Tesla trip planner mainly focuses on fewer charging stops because it expects you to arrive at your next charging destination with a lesser charge.

This means that you are going to spend more time at the charge stops in order to get enough charge for the rest of the trip.

NOTE: 
If you want a fast road trip when relying on this trip planner, you will need to manually search and add superchargers along your route.
Best for planning a fast road trip.

ABRP focuses on providing more charging stops along your route. This means that you will arrive at your charging stops with more charge and spend only a few minutes adding more.

Therefore, you will end up spending less time on the charge stops and hence have a faster road trip.

NOTE:
ABRP also has a feature that allows you to choose whether you want a fast road trip or a slow one.
3. It is easier to plan a road trip using the in-car Tesla navigation, even for new Tesla owners.Its navigation can be a little confusing for beginners/ new Tesla owners.
4.It is not very accurate when going on a road trip during the cold season when the temperature is below 25°F.Better accuracy when going on a road trip during the cold season when the temperature is below 25°F.
5.It has fewer bugs compared to ABRP.It has more bugs compared to the in-built Tesla trip planner.

When to use ABRP and Tesla Navigation

I’d recommend you use both apps together. That is because ABRP is great for planning a road trip and the Tesla Navigation is best for actual navigation during the trip.

ABRP also works very well to ensure your trip is feasible. 

ABRP is a good feasibility tool for EV route planning compared to the in-car Tesla Navigation. However, Tesla Navigation is easier and best to use when driving.

We have a detailed article on How to use A Better Route Planner.

See also:

Best EV Route Planner.

ABRP Vs Plugshare: Which One is The Best EV Trip Planner App?

See also: Cool and Must-Have Tesla Model 3 and Y Accessories.

Why should you use the in-car Tesla Navigation when driving?

  1. It will route based on what’s happening in real-time

It is best to use the in-car Tesla Navigation when driving as opposed to ABRP mainly because it will route you based on what’s happening in real-time, like traffic, full chargers, etc. 

This means it does more live determinations while you are in transit than ABRP.

For example, during our Tesla road trips, we have experienced times where the car reroutes us if the chargers are occupied . I.e. it finds nearby chargers and reroutes us. This ends up saving us time during road trips.

  1. It allows the car to precondition before arriving at a Supercharger

This will help speed up the charging, thereby saving you time at the charging stop.

NOTE:
-Do not plan your trip using the Trip planner on the Tesla website. It will not be accurate and reliable. 

-The in-car Tesla Navigation uses the current battery level to start the trip. This means that your trip will be affected if you plan it on ABRP, starting with 100% charge, if the current battery level is not 100%.

-When going on a road trip, I recommend starting with a 100% charge.

You may also like: 4 Best Tesla Model 3 Tires (According to Model 3 Owners).

When do most Tesla owners use ABRP based on our surveys?

The vast majority of Tesla owners use ABRP on their phones to keep track of the overall road trip.

They use ABRP to get a clear picture of the trip. That is, to know if they can skip a supercharger, or have a rough idea of how many stops are in a route.

When do most Tesla owners use PlugShare & other EV route planning?

  • When they want to find or avoid specific chargers along their route.
  • When they want to read the charger station reviews (the comments people leave after using the chargers).
  • When they want to find places to sleep as they charge overnight.
  • To check roadblocks, accidents, constructions, traffic and speed camera locations, and other hazards.

See also: How to Maximize Tesla Range & Reduce Battery Drain on Tesla.

How To Camp In A Tesla Like A Pro.

How Accurate Is The Tesla Trip Planner After The Recent Update?

Other available Tesla trip planner options

Apart from ABRP, Tesla’s in-built route planner, PlugShare, and Waze the following are other available trip planner options:

  1. Google Maps (EV route planning)

Google Maps EV route planning is also great in helping you plan your Tesla road trip.

It helps you achieve the following:

  • It helps you find the best route.
  • When planning your trip, it calculates your next charging stops based on the battery range.
  • It gives you the estimated time it will take to charge your car. This is by putting into consideration the type of charger (fast or regular).
  • Drivers can be able to check charger availability in advance.

See also: How To Determine The Cost Of A Tesla Road Trip.

  1. Apple Maps EV routing

Apple has come up with Apple Maps EV route planner that is almost similar to Google map’s EV route planner.

Best Tesla road trip planner app

So, basically, when taking a long road trip, your choice of trip planner app will mainly depend on your road trip goals.

***

What not to expect from all the EV Trip Planners

  1. Do not expect the trip planner to be 100% accurate

About 90% of the time when planning a trip, the charging times are always never the same as what you see on the EV trip planners.

Take, for instance, your Tesla trip planner predicted that you would arrive at a Supercharger with about 40% charge only to end up arriving with 10%. 

This means that you will either have to charge for longer than you had planned on the trip planner or consume enough charge to take you to the next available/closest charge stop.

And this explains why you always see charging time differences when planning a trip on ABRP vs. the in-built Tesla route planner. This also applies to other EV trip planner apps.

Once you start driving, the car will constantly be evaluating whether it will manage to arrive at the next charging stop, or reroute you based on how much charge you have. 

Additionally, it will change the original planned route if it realizes that it is consuming more energy than it originally ‘thought’ it would. 

NOTE:
There are many factors that affect the EV range. They include:
> Driving speed
> Weather.
> Temperature.
> Terrain e.t.c

See the Longest Range Electric Car.

  1. Don’t always expect to see a perfect 250kW or 150kW when charging

Most of the time, during a charging session, you will never see a perfect 250kW or 150kW. Sometimes, this may even end up changing your entire original plan on the trip planner. 

Additionally, if you stop at a 150kW paired charger and someone pulls over right next to you, this means you will have a longer charging time than what the trip planner had originally predicted.

Final Word

Even if you’re using the best Tesla trip planner to plan your road trip, it is important to always be flexible as anything can happen along the way.

Hello there! My name is Rose. I’m passionate about electric cars and clean energy. My adventurous spirit and journalistic pursuits make each day fascinating and far greater. I consider traveling not just about the grandeur moments, but the little elements that transform the whole experience.