The 7 best electric vehicle road trips in the US

30.04.2024 - 01:19 / lonelyplanet.com / Elvis Presley

The great American road trip is going electric.

The electric-vehicle (EV) juggernaut rolls on, and as companies continue to add new charging stations to meet demand, hitting the highway in a zero-emissions car has never been easier. 

The benefits of driving electric cars are clear. Transportation is the biggest source of planet-warming emissions in the USA, and the switch to EVs helps drivers play their part in mitigating the climate crisis by cutting back on fossil fuels. To top it off, going green saves money: electric car owners spend roughly 60% less on gas than drivers with internal combustion vehicles – a major win as gas prices continue to fluctuate. 

Can you do the all-American road trip in an electric car?

But EV road trips still come with challenges. While gas stations are ubiquitous across the country, finding and using electric chargers on the road can be daunting and time-consuming. This leads to range anxiety – the fear of losing battery life before reaching a destination. To avoid this fear, travelers must consider their car’s range (the average is roughly 250 miles), plan excursions through areas known to have charging stations, and prepare for unforeseen fueling snafus along the way. 

Luckily, there are plenty of EV-ready road trips around the nation. All verified using Plugshare (a leading app for finding EV chargers), these are the most reliable, convenient and scenic routes for EV drivers ready to leave range anxiety in the dust.

Hit the road: America’s most iconic road trips

The route: Nashville, Tennessee to Natchez, Mississippi
Length: 444 miles

Cruise from honky-tonk Nashville to the Mississippi River’s oldest city on this quest through America’s Deep South. The Natchez Trace Pkwy roughly follows a 10,000-year-old trading route used by Indigenous tribes, and many sites near the path pay homage to the land’s original stewards. You can channel their mindset of connection to nature and sustainability in an EV: you'll find roughly 360 chargers during the drive, with 80% supporting fast charging. 

Meander along the route’s two-lane road as it leaves Nashville and winds toward Hohenwald, where you’ll find a monument to Meriwether Lewis, who explored America’s uncharted territory with the help of native experts like Sacagawea. Once you’ve seen the Pharr Mounds – eight Indigenous burial sites built between 1 and 200 CE – spend an evening recharging in Tupelo, once home to the Chickasaw Nation (and later the birthplace of local legend Elvis Presley). 

While fueling up in Jackson, Mississippi, visit the Mississippi Civil Rights Museum to learn about The Negro Motorist Green Book. This annual guide once helped Black travelers navigate the open (or not-so-open) road in Jim Crow–era America. 

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