Some people live on the road, and as the world becomes more and more electrified, those journeys are made with an EV. If you are one of those road warriors, you might be looking for a laptop that works best for you. Because modern EVs are more advanced than modern gasoline vehicles, certain features improve the quality of life on the road. Here are some of our recommendations for the best laptops for your next work or family trip.
Best overall: Apple MacBook Pro 14-inch
The MacBook Pro, in any Apple Silicon version, is an excellent laptop for someone on the go. The battery life is excellent, and the performance far exceeds the Intel-based laptops of old. Additionally, they are power-efficient. The M4 Max, the most powerful MacBook Pro currently available, in the 14-inch version, comes with a 96-watt power adapter. The thing is, if you have a newer EV — like the excellent Hyundai Ioniq 9 — 100-watt USB-C is charging in every row.
That means you can pick up an extra USB-C to MagSafe cable (it should already come with one, so you can leave the extra in the car) and charge your laptop at maximum speed with a modern EV. There’s no need to limit yourself to an iPad to get work done within the confines of your EV.
These laptops are best in breed, and continue to get better with each generation. Not having to carry a heavy charging brick is a bonus.
Best thin and light: Apple MacBook Air
Both the 13-inch and 15-inch fall well within the USB-C charging capabilities of new EVs, like the aforementioned Hyundai, but with one of these laptops, you might not even have to recharge. The key with the Air models is to get the most amount of system memory, or RAM, that you can afford. It’s non-upgradable, and the best upsell you can get at the time of purchase.
For most work that doesn’t involve rigorous photo editing, video editing, or AI work, the MacBook Air is an excellent laptop. It’s very light, it’s easy to carry, and the Silicon processors in them are still lightning quick. For most people, this might be the best laptop to buy overall.
Best deal: Acer Aspire 3 A315-24P-R7VH
It doesn’t have a name that flows off the tip of your tongue, but if you need a laptop and don’t have a lot of money to spend, you could do far worse than the Aspire 3 A315-24P-R7VH.
For basic internet tasks, spreadsheets, and word processing, the Aspire 3 can handle it. If you want to watch YouTube or streaming content, the IPS 1080p panel will perform the task well. And, with Windows 10 official support ending, this Windows 11 laptop is an affordable way to stay up to date on the latest security updates.
If you’re doing some more advanced tasks or gaming, this isn’t the laptop for you. But, at under 4 pounds and potentially up to 11 hours of battery life, this 15.6-inch laptop can get many people through the day without breaking the bank. It also charges from a 70-watt brick, but you can use the USB-C power, which gives you the flexibility that you have with the more expensive laptops to recharge it.
Best gaming laptop: MSI Titan 18 HX AI A2XWJG
High-performance gaming laptops aren’t cheap, especially now that GPUs are running AI models more than they’re powering games, so to get the latest and greatest Nvidia RTX 5090, you’re going to pay a premium. In a laptop, that means checking out the MSI Titan 18 HX AI.
It’s an 18-inch laptop with an Intel Core Ultra 9 285HX. It also means you get the mobile version of the RTX 5090 GPU with 24 GB of video memory. You also get 64 GB of DDR5 RAM working at 6,400 megatransfers per second.
It weighs nearly 8 pounds, and the power brick is going to need more than 200 watts to power it. There’s no USB-C charging here, but many EVs have a dedicated AC plug on board that can deliver up to 1,500 watts. If you don’t have that, your EV might support V2L, which means you can plug an adapter into your charging power and get several kilowatts out of the plug if you need.
While it’s not as convenient as other laptops here, you won’t be bored while you’re sitting at a charging station. Whether it’s Cyberpunk 2077 or Doom: The Dark Ages, you’ll be able to trace all the rays while you’re sucking in the juice.
Must have accessory: Wifi hotspot capability
Most cell phones these days can be used as a wireless hotspot. While many new cars have that feature built in, and you can buy a dedicated hotspot if you want to, there’s really no need to buy any additional equipment if your phone supports it. Just ring up your cell phone carrier and see if you can hotspot with your phone, and then you can connect these laptops on the road to the internet easily.
Final notes
Yes, a tablet is an alternative in many situations to entertainment on a road trip, but having the power of a full-blown laptop means you can also get work done. While modern EVs can recharge quickly, that downtime might be beneficial to you to get an important email sent or send a Kerbal into orbit.
Because EVs are just big batteries with wheels, manufacturers are figuring out ways to make that power available for more things than just propelling the vehicle. In many ways, an EV is a tech lover’s dream.
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