The EV Route

Stops

How many charging stops does a route need?

Peak charging power is a marketing figure held for a few minutes. What decides your journey is average power across the window you actually use.

Updated 2 min read 24 citations Evidence strength 3/5

The charge curve

A battery does not accept energy at a constant rate. Power is highest at a low state of charge and tapers as the pack fills, because pushing current into a nearly-full cell risks lithium plating and permanent damage. Cell-level fast-charging models describe this behaviour directly [3].

So two cars advertising the same peak power can differ by fifteen minutes on the same stop, depending on how long each holds power before tapering. A car that peaks lower but holds it flatter is often faster in practice.

Charging rate and state of charge

Why 10-80%

Below roughly 10% you risk arriving with no margin. Above roughly 80% the taper is steep enough that you are waiting a long time for a small amount of energy. Charging from 80 to 100 can take as long as 10 to 80 did.

For a long drive, two 10-80 stops almost always beat one 10-100 stop plus a shorter second one. The exception is the final leg, where charging high once makes sense because you are not paying the taper penalty twice.

Stops are for you too

Driver fatigue research consistently supports regular breaks on long drives, and the interval that emerges is close to what a modern electric car needs anyway. The stop you resent as a charging constraint is a stop you should be taking.

What makes it tolerable is where you stop. A charger in an unlit retail car park with no facilities is a different experience from one attached to somewhere you would eat — which is the case our motorway food site exists to make.

Common questions

Should I charge to 100% before setting off?
For the first leg of a long trip, yes — you charge at home overnight and pay no taper penalty in time.
Is a higher peak kW car always faster?
No. Average power across 10-80% decides the stop length, and a flatter curve often wins.
How often should I stop anyway?
Fatigue guidance broadly supports a break every couple of hours, which is close to what the car wants.
Does charging to 80% help the battery?
Habitually avoiding very high states of charge and repeated rapid charging is associated with slower degradation, though the effect is modest on modern packs.

References

Every citation below links to the original peer-reviewed record on PubMed or via DOI. Nothing here is a substitute for medical advice.

  1. Electric Vehicle (EV) Review: Bibliometric Analysis of Electric Vehicle Trend, Policy, Lithium-Ion Battery, Battery Management, Charging Infrastructure, Smart Charging, and Electric Vehicle-to-Everything (V2X) Veza I, Syaifuddin M, Idris M, et al. · Energies · 2024 · Journal article DOI
  2. Dynamic Electric Vehicle Route Planning via Traffic Flow Prediction and Charging Service Integration Zhang Y, Shen X, Wang Y · Processes · 2026 · Journal article DOI
  3. Planning for Medium- and Heavy-Duty Electric Vehicle Charging Infrastructure in Distribution Networks to Support Long-Range Electric Trucks Then J, Agalgaonkar A, Muttaqi K · Energies · 2025 · Journal article DOI
  4. Co-Optimization of Charging Strategies and Route Planning for Variable-Ambient-Temperature Long-Haul Electric Vehicles Based on an Electrochemical–Vehicle Dynamics Model Zhang L, Zhang M, Shan H, et al. · Sustainability · 2025 · Journal article DOI
  5. Model Predictive Control Using an Artificial Neural Network for Fast-Charging Lithium-Ion Batteries Jaguemont J, Darwiche A, Bardé F · World Electric Vehicle Journal · 2025 · Journal article DOI
  6. Fast-Charging Model of Lithium Polymer Cells Jaguemont J, Bardé F · World Electric Vehicle Journal · 2025 · Journal article DOI
  7. Optimisation of Electric Vehicle Charging Stations Planning Based on Macro and Micro Perspectives WANG Q, DENG K, YAN J, et al. · Promet - Traffic&Transportation · 2025 · Journal article DOI
  8. Personalised electric vehicle charging stop planning through online estimators Shafipour E, Stein S, Ahipasaoglu S · Autonomous Agents and Multi-Agent Systems · 2024 · Journal article DOI
  9. Electric Vehicle Distribution Route Optimisation and Charging Strategy Considering Dynamic Loads Wu Q, Tian M · Polish Journal of Environmental Studies · 2024 · Journal article DOI
  10. Multi-Objective Electric Vehicle Route and Charging Planning with Contraction Hierarchies Cuchý M, Vokřínek J, Jakob M · Proceedings of the International Conference on Automated Planning and Scheduling · 2024 · Journal article DOI
  11. Electric Vehicle Health Monitoring with Electric Vehicle Range Prediction and Route Planning Jayaram J, Chetan J, Nayak B · Journal of Informatics and Web Engineering · 2024 · Journal article DOI
  12. Comparison of EV Fast Charging Protocols and Impact of Sinusoidal Half-Wave Fast Charging Methods on Lithium-Ion Cells Althurthi S, Rajashekara K, Debnath T · World Electric Vehicle Journal · 2024 · Journal article DOI
  13. An Implementation of Quasi-Newton Algorithm for Fast-charging Lithium-Ion Battery (LIB) Optimization in Electric Vehicle Application Anjarani M, Raharya N · International Journal of Electrical, Computer, and Biomedical Engineering · 2024 · Journal article DOI
  14. End-to-End Direct-Current-Based Extreme Fast Electric Vehicle Charging Infrastructure Using Lithium-Ion Battery Storage Powar V, Singh R · Batteries · 2023 · Journal article DOI
  15. Advancements in Electric Vehicle Charging Infrastructure: Fast Charging, Wireless Charging, and Smart Grid Integration Jordan Y. Arpilleda · International Journal of Advanced Research in Science, Communication and Technology · 2023 · Journal article DOI
  16. Novel Hybrid Thermal Management System for High-Power Lithium-Ion Module for Electric Vehicles: Fast Charging Applications Karimi D, Behi H, Van Mierlo J, et al. · World Electric Vehicle Journal · 2022 · Journal article DOI
  17. Optimization and Coordination of Electric Vehicle Charging Process for Long-Distance Trips Hassler J, Dimitrova Z, Petit M, et al. · Energies · 2021 · Journal article DOI
  18. Simultaneous Long-Term Planning of Flexible Electric Vehicle Photovoltaic Charging Stations in Terms of Load Response and Technical and Economic Indicators Azimi Nasab M, Zand M, Padmanaban S, et al. · World Electric Vehicle Journal · 2021 · Journal article DOI
  19. Optimization Approach for Long-Term Planning of Charging Infrastructure for Fixed-Route Transportation Systems Blat Belmonte B, Rinderknecht S · World Electric Vehicle Journal · 2021 · Journal article DOI
  20. TEKNIK FAST CHARGING BATERAI LITHIUM-ION MENGGUNAKAN LOGIKA FUZZY Anshori A, Siswojo B, Hasanah R · Jurnal Ecotipe (Electronic, Control, Telecommunication, Information, and Power Engineering) · 2020 · Journal article DOI
  21. The Design of DSP Electric Vehicle Charging Power Supply Jianning L · Vehicle Dynamics · 2017 · Journal article DOI
  22. Bottlenecks to Fast Charging of Lithium-Ion-Insertion Cells for Electric Vehicles Chandrasekaran R · ECS Transactions · 2014 · Journal article DOI
  23. Bottlenecks to Fast Charging of Lithium-Ion-Insertion Cells for Electric Vehicles Chandrasekaran R · ECS Meeting Abstracts · 2013 · Journal article DOI
  24. Fast Charging Method Based on Estimation of Ion Concentrations using a Reduced Order of Electrochemical Thermal Model for Lithium Ion Polymer Battery Choe S, Li X, Xiao M · World Electric Vehicle Journal · 2013 · Journal article DOI