Tesla’s built-in navigation plans Supercharger stops automatically, so for years the answer to “do I need another charging app” was mostly no. That’s less true now. Tesla has retrofitted many Superchargers with a Magic Dock adapter that lets non-Tesla EVs charge there, and Tesla drivers increasingly cross onto non-Tesla networks on longer trips. In that mixed-network world, two free apps — PlugShare and A Better Route Planner (ABRP) — are worth having installed, even if you rarely open them.
PlugShare is a map, not a router. It aggregates charging stations from every network — Superchargers, Electrify America, ChargePoint, EVgo — onto one map and lets you filter by connector type and network. Its most useful feature for a Tesla owner is the community check-in log: other drivers post in real time when a stall is broken, occupied, or blocked, which Tesla’s own in-car map doesn’t show. That matters most off Tesla’s own network, where uptime data is thinner.
ABRP does what PlugShare doesn’t: it simulates your actual energy use — factoring in your exact car model, its charging curve, elevation changes, and weather — to plan a multi-stop route and estimate your charge level at each stop. Tesla’s in-car Trip Planner does this too, but mainly for Superchargers; ABRP will route you through non-Tesla stations as well, which matters if you’re headed somewhere Tesla’s network doesn’t reach, or you want a second opinion on charge times before committing to a route.
For most day-to-day driving, neither app earns a place on your home screen — Tesla’s own Trip Planner handles routine Supercharger routing well, and opening PlugShare for a five-mile errand is overkill. Where they pay off is longer trips off the Supercharger network, or trips where a specific stop’s reliability matters more than Tesla’s default routing assumes. Load PlugShare before a trip to an area with fewer Superchargers, and consider ABRP if you’re mixing networks or driving a route Tesla’s planner doesn’t cover well.
Both apps are free for the core mapping and route-planning features described here. PlugShare has no paid tier; ABRP offers an optional premium subscription for extras like live vehicle-battery connectivity and CarPlay/Android Auto display, but the free version is enough for occasional trip planning.
Photo by Alicia Christin Gerald.
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