The Best EV Charging Apps

For finding chargers, PlugShareis the map to keep — it covers every major network with real driver check-ins. For planning a trip, A Better Route Planner (ABRP) models your car's energy use and picks the stops. Add the one or two network appsyou actually pay with, and you are set — you do not need a phone full of them.

Most EV owners charge at home for the vast majority of their miles, so the apps that matter are the ones for the occasional public stop and the road trip. Here is the short list that does the job.

PlugShare — find and vet any charger

PlugShare is a free, community-built map of public chargers across essentially every network: Tesla Superchargers (where open to other EVs), Electrify America, EVgo, ChargePoint, plus obscure municipal and destination chargers the network apps miss. Its real value is the check-ins: recent driver reports, photos and reliability notes that tell you whether a stall actually works before you drive to it. Filter by connector type — NACS, J1772, CCS — so you only see chargers your car can use.

A Better Route Planner (ABRP) — plan the trip

ABRP is a simulation engine, not just a map. Tell it your car and it models energy use over the route's terrain, speed and weather, then plans charging stops and how long to sit at each. It is the tool to use before a long drive or an unfamiliar route with sparse charging. Many drivers plan in ABRP, then send the route to Google or Apple Maps for turn-by-turn. Our road-trip guide walks through the workflow.

The network apps — how you pay

You still need the operator's app to start and pay for a session on most stations — ChargePoint, Electrify America, EVgo, Tesla. Install the ones for networks near you and along your routes; skip the rest until you need them. See how to pay for EV charging for every payment method and why a backup matters, and networks explained for who runs what.

Your car's built-in planner (don't ignore it)

Many EVs now include a native trip planner that routes you through compatible fast chargers and pre-conditions the battery for faster charging. For drivers of those cars, the built-in planner plus PlugShare for spot-checks is often all you need. Whatever you use, keep a NACS-to-J1772 or the right adapter in the car so a found charger is a usable one.