The August getaway is peak season for long drives, and more families than ever are setting off in an electric car. With a little preparation, a long journey is no longer a leap into the unknown: the real difference between a relaxed trip and a day of range anxiety is not the car's range, but how well you plan your stops.
How route planners work
Planning tools, built into the car or offered as dedicated apps, work out where and how long to stop based on your battery level, your speed, the weather and the hills along the way. They slot the right chargers into your route and give realistic timings, so you never arrive with the range on a knife-edge. Setting the trip up the night before, calmly, is worth more than any improvised decision on the motorway.
The golden rules before you set off
A few habits change everything. Leave with the battery at 100%, charged overnight at home. On the road, aim for short top-ups to around 80% rather than 100%, because that last stretch of charging is far slower. And always keep a 10 to 20% margin for arriving at a charger, with a back-up point already picked out.
Slow, rapid and ultra-rapid chargers
Not all charging is equal. A standard 22 kW unit takes around 55 minutes to add 100 miles of range; a 50 kW rapid does it in about 25 minutes; and a 150 to 350 kW ultra-rapid brings that down to roughly ten minutes. For long journeys it pays to build the trip around ultra-rapid chargers, timing stops to coincide with meals and natural breaks. Your cruising speed matters too: sitting at around 65 to 70 mph is the best trade-off between range and time.
The cost: home versus motorway
The price gap is stark. Charging at home, especially on an overnight EV tariff, costs a fraction of what you pay at an ultra-rapid charger on the motorway, where prices can run to 70p or 80p per kWh. Knowing today's electricity prices helps you see why it makes sense to leave home full and keep motorway charging to what you actually need. The same habits from our guide on how to save electricity translate, for an EV driver, into a lower cost per mile.
Summer queues: have a plan B
On the busiest travel days, the most convenient charging stations can get crowded. Picking out an alternative charger along your route in advance is the best insurance against queues and surprises. With that safety net in place, even the longest summer drive comes down to simple organisation.