Google wants to make life even easier for electric car drivers by offering new features with Google Maps. These will then be reserved for vehicles running Android Automotive, such as the Renault Mégane, and include an improved route planner.
While sales of electric cars are still progressing and have even exceeded those of diesels, there are still some brakes for many motorists. Among them, the price of course, but above all the autonomy.
Indeed, according to a recent report, French motorists would be ready to take the plunge provided that their car can travel more than 400 kilometers on a single charge. An erroneous reasoning, for several reasons that we have detailed in an article. The key ? The development of the network of charging stations, in full expansion although the objective of 100,000 announced by the government has not yet been reached.
Easy journeys
Thus, it makes more sense to have a car with a small battery and therefore to plug in more often. But for that, you still have to find an accessible terminal. If more and more electric vehicles are equipped with an integrated route planner, some are not yet equipped, such as the MG 4, while Tesla cars do not integrate third-party operators, only Superchargers.
In this case, it is possible to use applications such as Chargemap or Waze, which will integrate a new route planning functionality. This was already partially offered this summer, but only indicated a limited number of terminals. Google Maps is not to be outdone, since it has offered the search for charging points since 2019, first only in the United States as well as in the United Kingdom and then with us.
However, this function was not previously offered on electric cars equipped with Android Automotive, such as the Renault Mégane E-Tech or the Volvo XC40 and C40 Recharge. But now that is changing, as Google has just announced in a communicated published yesterday. The Californian firm has just unveiled the arrival of very practical new features for Google Maps integrated into Android Automotive.
In addition to the arrival of the immersive view and augmented reality, as well as the possibility of consulting a route without unlocking your smartphone, the company has also looked into electric cars. Thus, it offers new functions only dedicated to vehicles equipped with the Android automotive system.
A new smart planner
Owners will therefore be able to enjoy a whole new smart route planner, which could quickly make those offered by manufacturers obsolete. Thus, Android Automotive becomes even more immersive in order to better compete with Apple CarPlay which also wishes to become indispensable to motorists in the future.
Google Maps will be able to suggest the best stop depending on several parameters such as traffic, load level and vehicle consumption. The novelty is the possibility of choosing another recharging stop, for example to stop earlier on the road, or at another place. This is better than what Tesla offers, since it is impossible to ask the planner to modify the charging stops automatically in a Model 3 for example.
The planner’s objective is to reduce travel time, while this is an increasingly important issue, even more than the greatest possible autonomy. This is regularly proven by YouTuber Bjørn Nyland, who compares the time required for various electric cars on the market to complete a 1,000 kilometer journey.
New features
A new filter is also appearing, making it possible to choose ultra-fast terminals of more than 150 kW. Thus, it will be possible to fill the battery of his car in less than forty minutes, although the charging speed depends on several elements, and in particular the outside temperature. We know that the cold does not really mix well with electric cars, also affecting autonomy.
This feature has already been present at Tesla for several months, but it does not list all the charging stations nearby. This is a desire of the American company, in order to avoid sending a driver to load on an unreliable terminal.
Finally, Google Maps will also indicate in the search results if the places you are going to have a charging station. Thus, you will be able to choose your supermarket according to the possibilities of being able to connect your vehicle or not.
For now, the company has not yet announced a specific date when this update will be available.
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