With Earth Day just around the corner, it’s an electric week at Auto123 as we turn the lights towards noteworthy developments in the EV segment.
• Google’s new updates fine-tune its Google Maps, making it easier to find EV charging stations.
For EV owners, especially those new to the format, knowing the location of public charging stations is both essential and reassuring.
Depending on where you live, the experience varies; networks haven’t developed in the same way everywhere.
Hence the importance, when on the road, of being able to easily find the location of stations where you can recharge your EV’s battery.
To help electric vehicle owners, Google is using the occasion of Earth Day, coming up on Monday, April 22nd, to announce an update to its Google Maps and Google Search services. The changes will make it easier to find the exact location of charging stations, thus making road trip planning easier.
Google gives the example of multi-storey car parks. While motorists currently can tell if there are charging stations in a given area, it’s not always clear on which level or in which precise location to find them. Thanks to artificial intelligence, Google will soon be able to inform users more precisely thanks to comments received from other users.
You could, for example, see a message display telling you to enter the parking lot, go to level 3, turn left and then right to find the location of the pay stations.
The millions of reviews published every day in Google Maps will enable the service to update its information to offer unprecedented accuracy. Reviews of the charging stations encountered and the charging experience (type of socket, time, operation, breakdowns, etc.) will also be shared.
Google also wants to go further. It gives as an example a situation where you would be on the road, but running short on range. At that moment, the location of chargers would appear on the Google map, with information on the availability of charging stations in real time, as well as their capacity in kilowatts.
Google's planned update will be rolled out across the globe over the coming months, starting with vehicles already integrating the company's services.
And this is just the beginning, as the information shared will only become more precise and complete over time. For example, when you're on the road looking for a hotel, you'll be able to find out whether it can offer you recharging and whether charging stations are available.