Google has just made electric vehicle owners’ lives easier with an important update to Google Maps that essentially allows you to search for fast charging stations. So whereas before you might have been directed to a slower charger, even though you were searching for something more powerful, now this shouldn’t be a problem as you can select to only have it show chargers that can provide at least 50 kW.
In order to access this new feature, you need to type in the search box that you are looking for an EV charger, charging station or something similar to let the app know you’re driving an EV and you're looking to plug in. Then a new option will pop up below to allow you to specify what charger you prefer.
The new feature was added to the app for both Apple and Android devices and in order to be able to use it, you need to have the latest version installed on your device. And it not only allows you to choose the charger’s power, but also the type of plug, giving the option between CCS, J1772, Tesla or CHAdeMo, in order to narrow down the search even more.
Another feature that was added as part of another recent update allows users to tailor route planning to their specific vehicle, whether it is internal combustion-engined or electric. If you select that you’re driving an EV, it will not only consider how to get you to your destination most efficiently and quickly, but it should also factor in that you might need to charge along the way – this theoretically means there’s much less of a chance to become stranded in-between chargers, although it’s not quite a complete EV route planner yet.
This update doesn’t just work in the US, but according to Google you can use the new features in pretty much any country that has an electric vehicle charging network. Let us know if you've tried this new Maps feature and whether it works as intended.
