Google is rolling out some pretty big Maps updates for EVs with Android Automotive built in to help drivers navigate to public chargers much easier.
At the time of writing, vehicles with Android Automotive (the built-in version of Android Auto) are extremely limited. The only vehicles that come with Android Automotive in Australia are the Polestar 2, which was Gizmodo Australia’s favourite EV of 2022, and select Volvo models.
We loved it in the Polestar 2 and look forward to seeing it in more vehicles, especially now the Maps app in Android Automotive is about to get three pretty great features.
The first is quite simple: if you’re searching for chargers on Google Maps in Android Automotive, you’ll now be told if a charger is capable of 150kw charging speeds, in case you hate slower chargers and want to get going quickly.
The next change will include clarified charging station results when searching in Google Maps. The example Google gave us for this was clarification for if a supermarket has charging stations on-site.
Finally, the most exciting update is the ability to add charging stops on trips that are detected to require a charge. Google Maps will recommend a charger along the way, while factoring in traffic, your car’s battery, and the expected battery consumption from point A to point B.
Despite the French, these features are all rolling out in the coming months to Australia, but it’d be nice to hopefully have these features integrated to Android Auto at some point, for cars that don’t have Android Automotive. Google Maps, the application for both Android OS and Android Auto, has limited public charger information in-app, showing available charging standards, locations and speeds, but the experience that Android Automotive is more tailored to the car itself, factoring in battery charge and consumption.
It’s no surprise that the integrated OS has deeper information than a connected OS, but it’s just something on my features wishlist.
Google says that these Android Automotive updates will begin to roll out in the coming months. Hopefully more EVs with Android Automotive will also come down under at the same time.