How to plan a trip with Trip planner

⏱ Estimated reading time: 2–3min

✅ Quick answer

The trip planner finds charging stops along your route, based on your car, your battery level, and the weather. It's made for longer journeys.

Open the Plugsurfing app and go to:

Trip

Add your starting point and destination, set your battery levels, and select Plan trip.

📱 Plan your trip

1. Open the Plugsurfing app
2. Go to the Trip tab
3. Add your starting point, or use My location
4. Add your destination. To add a stop on the way, select +
5. Set your Battery at departure and Battery at arrival
6. Under Additional settings, check your Car model and Prioritized operators
7. Select Plan trip

{Visual: Mock-up of the Trip planner screen}

🗺️ Your trip plan

Your trip plan shows:

• Overview: arrival time, duration, distance, number of stops, charge time, and total energy
• Each charging stop: how long to charge, how much energy, the battery level you'll reach, and the operator
• Arrival: the battery level you'll arrive with

From there, you can:

• Directions: pick Apple Maps or Google Maps under Open navigation app to navigate your route
• Show alternative chargers: see other chargers along the way. Select one, then Set this charging stop to use it instead
• End trip: go back to the trip planner to plan a new trip

{Visual: Mock-up of a trip plan with charging stops}

💡 How the trip planner works

When it plans your stops, the trip planner looks at:

• Your car: its consumption and range, based on its battery size. That's why it helps to set your car model.
• The weather: the colder it is, the more energy your car uses.
• Your prioritized operators: chargers from these operators come first.

In Germany, where there's often no speed limit, it assumes you drive at 130 km/h.

🔋 Good to know

• Battery at arrival: on routes to remote areas, the battery level you arrive with may differ from what you set.
• Apple CarPlay: on iPhone, you can see your route in CarPlay and update it during your trip.
• Hybrid vehicles: the trip planner doesn't support hybrids, as they switch to combustion mode on longer trips.

🛠️ Route not found?

If the app can't find a route, select Edit route, check your destination and stops, and try again.