Maps gets EV route planner in Android Auto
Do you drive electric and regularly go on longer trips? Then you know that planning charging stops sometimes takes quite a bit of thinking, although many cars today can help you with that. Google is now trying to make that easier with a new feature in Google Maps for Android Auto.
The update introduces a built-in route planner specifically for electric vehicles. With it, you can not only determine your route, but also instantly see where and when the best place to charge is. The feature is being rolled out for more than 350 models from at least 15 car brands.
Setting it up works quite simply. You first choose the make and model of your car on your phone. Based on that, the system can estimate how much energy you consume. You then plan a route via the screen in your car, after which Google Maps shows you how much battery the trip costs and when charging stops are needed.
For those calculations, Google uses a combination of AI and energy models. This looks at vehicle data such as weight and battery size, as well as current information such as traffic, elevation and weather. This gives you the most realistic estimate of your ride.
Battery
You can also set the amount of battery you want to arrive at your destination. Keep in mind that you have to enter the starting charge status manually. This is because the function does not communicate directly with your car. However, during the drive, according to Google, the charging status is automatically updated based on your driving behaviour and charging moments.
The new route planner seems to become an alternative to apps like A Better Route Planner(ABRP), which have long been popular among EV drivers. Those apps can sometimes be even more accurate by extracting data directly from the car via an OBD reader, for example.
If you have an electric car with a well-built navigation system, as is the case with some brands, this feature may not add as much. Especially since not all cars support Android Auto. But for many other drivers, this could actually be a handy solution.
Whether the route planner will also come to the Google Maps mobile app is not yet known. So for now, the feature is especially interesting if you use Android Auto. Incidentally, it seems that the functionality will be available first for the United States. The functionality will be available for the following cars:
- Audi
- BMW
- Chevrolet
- FIAT
- Genesis
- Hyundai
- Jaguar
- Kia
- Lexus
- Lucid
- Mercedes-Benz
- Nissan
- Porsche
- Subaru
- Toyota
- Volkswagen
