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Our family road trips from Vancouver, BC to Edmonton, AB used to be a no-brainer—12 hours of driving, two gas stops, and a whole lot of questionable snacks. But after years of loyal service, our Toyota Highlander started wheezing its way into retirement, and we knew it was time for an upgrade. Enter the 2024 Tesla Model Y, complete with free Full Self-Driving (FSD) and internet for the first month. With some vacation days to burn, we figured, why not revive the old road trip tradition with a shiny new set of wheels?

I watched enough old vlogs on YouTube to know that a cross-country EV journey was feasible, but when it came to this specific route, detailed info was a bit scarce. So, I'm sharing the experience over a few post — exactly the kind of information I wish I’d found when planning this adventure.

ABRP: The EV Driver's Secret Weapon for Long Road Trips

If you know me well, you’d know that "we’ll figure it out as we go" is generally not in my vocabulary. The vlogs we watched all used Tesla’s default navigation, but those routes had them rolling into charging stations with 10% to 15% battery left. That’s fine if you’re a seasoned EV long-drive road warrior, but as first-time EV road trippers, the idea of arriving on fumes (or electrons, in this case) had me white-knuckling the steering wheel just thinking about it.

Now, we’re not new to EV driving — our daily driver is a trusty Nissan Leaf, perfect for city commutes and short trips. But a long drive? That’s a whole different beast.

I had so many questions: "How much will the A/C drain the battery if I run it on Arctic Tundra mode for the whole way?", "Does mountain driving chew through range like a kid with Halloween candy?", "Should I just turn everything off and stick my head out the window?", "Should I just ship all the luggage to Edmonton overnight to save some weight?" And the big one: "What if there’s an accident in the middle of a 2-hour stretch and I need to double back?

Enter A Better Route Planner (ABRP), the app designed to help you plan an EV road trip.

Settings to Consider (Or How to Avoid a Nervous Breakdown)

Here’s where ABRP lets you customize your trip to suit your level of anxiety. These are the settings I used to keep my peace of mind intact:

• Arrival at each stop with 25% charge: This wasn’t just about playing it safe; it was about avoiding a heart attack every time the battery dipped below 20%. This setting meant that we spent a little more time charging at each stop to ensure we had a comfortable buffer.
• 10% battery degradation: Our Model Y was brand new, so the battery was pristine. But I added a 10% degradation just to force the app into giving me a more conservative estimate. Better safe than sorry, right?
• 450kg of extra weight: Here’s the thing — I wasn’t about to weigh our luggage or, worse, ask Cheryl to step on a scale. That’s a conversation that would not end well. So, I just threw in a nice (high) round number and called it a day.

The last two adjustements impacted which charging stations were chosen and occassionally affected the speed we travelled.

I accepted the rest of the default settings. With everything locked in, ABRP mapped out the route, highlighting all the Tesla Superchargers along the way. We were ready to hit the road with a plan.

What’s Next: The Road Ahead

Knowing we’d arrive at each stop with a comfortable buffer of charge made all the difference in keeping our anxiety at bay. If you’re planning a similar trip, do yourself a favor and pay the $5 for a month’s subscription to ABRP — it’s a small price to pay for the peace of mind that comes with a well-planned EV journey.

In the next post, I’ll dive into the details of actual road trip from Vancouver to Edmonton, where we put all this planning to the test.