Google is now prioritizing the inclusion of electric vehicle-centric features for EV owners in both Google Maps and built-in navigation software for vehicles
Google Maps is no longer showing gas stations as a category while navigating through the points of interest using an Android Auto phone connection with their electric vehicle; EV owners are instead getting charging stations as the top item on their list.
The feature, despite being noticed for the first time, has already been announced and confirmed since 2022.
“To help people get the most relevant information when navigating, last year we added the ability for EV drivers to see a shortcut for charging stations instead of gas stations on Google Maps for Android Auto,” said Google spokesperson Pearl Xu, adding that the feature has been live for vehicles with Google built-in software since 2020.
According to Google spokesperson Xu, Google Maps also offers a number of different EV-centric capabilities such as charging port availability, filters for charging speeds, filters for plug types, charging stops for trips and the ability to find charging stations in search results.
EV owners who used a Google built-in software or Google Maps for navigation already had the option to hide gas stations, but it seems that Google now wants to improve usability for EV owners, specially because there are a lot more EV’s on the road, with a lot of them containing Google built-in software such as Polestar 2, Volvo XC40 Recharge and the Cadillac Lyriq.
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