Beyond guiding drivers to their destination, google maps It offers very useful information for any of our journeys: the route with which we use the least fuel, where the radars are, the existence of a traffic jam or the price of the service stations. To this is added, now, a crucial piece of information for owners of electric vehicles. The latest update to the application seeks to make life easier for them, especially if they are in a hurry.
Available for Apple and Android phones, there is only one requirement that must be met: having the latest version of Google Maps installed on your mobile. With it you will be able to search, from now on, fast charging stations: Before, they simply signaled their existence without providing power, so it was easy for an electric car driver in a hurry to end up as a slow charger.
How does it work?
Its operation is as simple as entering “charging station” in the Google Maps search box. It will then appear a new option that allows you to filter to show only fast charging points that are compatible with the socket of the car in question.
And it is that the latest update is based on a previous one that already allows you to locate stations for that type of compatibility (CCS, J1772, Tesla or CHAdeMo). With this new filter, the driver will be able to ask the application to only show charging stations with a minimum power of 50 kW. According to Google, it can already be used in virtually any country that has an electric vehicle charging network.
more specific planning
Another feature that Google Maps has added, as part of another recent update, allows drivers to adapt your journey planning taking into account what type of vehicle you drive: electric or internal combustion. If you select the first one, the application will not only take into account how to get you to your destination in the most efficient and fastest way, it will also plan it considering the possibility of having to stop to carry out a recharge.
Theoretically, this means that Google Maps reduces the chance of an electric vehicle stalling while it searches for a charger to recover its battery capacity. Yes, the application not yet the most complete route planner for this type of car.
Augmented reality and accessibility
Along with this update, the latest version of the Google Maps augmented reality tool also arrives: it will allow you to use the phone’s camera to know what is around you. B.All you have to do is hold your mobile and touch the camera icon in the app to show nearby landmarks (parks, hotels, restaurants, bars, banks, and ATMs), how busy they are, their hours, their price range, and user ratings. The feature will launch first in New York, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Tokyo, London, and Paris.
Finally, Google Maps has extended its function of ‘Accessible Places’ to all its markets that shows, with an icon in the site profile, the level of accessibility of the company or the building in question: with it it will be possible to know, before visiting a place, if there is a ramp or means that facilitate access for users with some disability.
