How it works — what's actually happening when you analyze a trip

This page explains how the TripCaptain weather road trip planner works: how it chooses a safe departure window, how the trip safety score turns the forecast into a single number, and how the EV cold weather range calculator builds up your real winter range factor by factor.

Best time to leave — the 48-hour departure window

TripCaptain slices the next 48 hours into hourly departures and runs your whole route through the forecast for each one. Instead of guessing a single best time, it surfaces departure windows — bands of hours that share a similar risk profile — and folds every stop along the route into one verdict so you can see whether to go, wait, or prepare.

How the Hazard Score™ works — five inputs, one number

The Hazard Score™ weighs five inputs for every segment of the drive: precipitation, crosswind, visibility, temperature, and road surface. They combine into a single 0–100 route score where higher means safer, the way a test grade reads. Vehicle-specific modifiers then adjust the score — a high-profile van takes a bigger crosswind penalty, a motorcycle a bigger penalty for rain and cold, an EV a bigger one for sub-zero range loss.

EV cold weather range calculator

Rated EV range assumes 21 °C (70 °F), calm air, and flat road. TripCaptain decomposes where the kilometres actually go on a cold day — cold battery cells, cabin heating, headwind, and elevation gain each get their own line — then places charging stops against your real route and the day's conditions, including when pre-conditioning the battery is worth the time.

Plan a trip · EV trip planner · Full guide · Live road conditions