Planning EV Road Trips Just Got Smarter: My Thoughts on CUPRA’s New EV Route Planner

Just in time for summer road trips and long-haul adventures, CUPRA’s rolled out a new update to the My CUPRA app—and it’s a proper game-changer for electric vehicle owners.

If you’re driving the CUPRA Born or prepping for the arrival of the Tavascan, listen up: the new EV Route Planner is designed to take the guesswork out of electric journeys. No more juggling Google Maps, Zap-Map, and five charging apps. This puts everything in one place.

What It Does — And Why It Matters

The EV Route Planner lets you build a customised trip based on your real-world energy usage, your vehicle’s specs, and your charging preferences. It factors in:

• What percentage battery you want when you arrive at a charger
• How much charge you want at your final stop
• Route preferences (like avoiding tolls or motorways)
• Charger types and networks you want to prioritise

Then it plans your route accordingly—and here’s the kicker: it can send it straight to your car’s built-in nav system, or to Apple Maps and Google Maps via CarPlay or Android Auto. No more copying postcodes between apps while parked at a service station.

Tom’s Take: This is the kind of feature we’ve been shouting for. EV road-tripping should be about enjoying the drive, not spreadsheet-level planning. CUPRA just made that possible.

Live Updates and Real-Time Adaptation

Say you're pushing on through a mountain pass, or the weather changes and your battery efficiency dips — the My CUPRA app keeps up. Routes can adapt in real time, so your next charging stop shifts automatically if needed.

The system even tells you how long to charge at each stop and what charger types are available. That’s one less thing to stress about when the kids are in the back and you’ve got 5% left.

Charging Tariffs That Actually Make Sense

CUPRA’s also refining its Charging Service tariffs with four clear, flexible options:

• Free – for casual users or those just starting out
• IONITY Flex – discounted rates without full commitment
• IONITY Pro – best IONITY pricing across Europe
• Premium – fixed rates across the CUPRA network, plus discounts at top-tier partner stations

And here’s the real kicker: CUPRA’s gone dynamic with pricing. That means market-based, country-specific rates, so you’re not overpaying if you’re road-tripping across the continent.

I’ve tried a lot of EV charging networks. CUPRA’s approach here feels fair, especially if you’re doing long distances or using IONITY regularly. The fact that you can plug, plan, and go with one ecosystem is a huge step up.

Final Thoughts: A Win for the Real-World EV Driver

Look, electric cars are brilliant — but they’ve always had that one Achilles heel: planning. Now, CUPRA is closing that gap.

This update is ideal for:

• Daily Born commuters who occasionally take weekend trips
• Tavascan buyers planning big adventures
• Anyone who’s been anxious about long EV trips, especially in unfamiliar areas

The integration into the My CUPRA app is smooth, the route planning is intelligent, and the charging flexibility across Europe is top-tier.