New ways to power up your electric vehicle adventures with Google Maps

2 mins read
electric vehicle

Electric vehicle ownership is on the rise, which means more people are looking for ways to charge their car — whether they’re on the go or planning their drive. To help EV owners access more helpful information about charging stations, we’re rolling out new features for Google Maps and Search. With these updates you can easily find specific information about the location of EV chargers, plan charging stops for road trips and more.

Easily find exactly where charging stations are located

Navigating to charging stations and finding exactly where the chargers are located — like the right area of a multilevel parking lot — can be tricky. In the coming months, we’ll start showing AI-powered summaries in Google Maps that describe a charger’s specific location based on helpful information from user reviews, so you can find exactly where to go. For example, when you’re headed to a charging station you may see a detailed description, like “Enter the underground parking lot and follow the signs toward the exit. Just before exiting, turn right.”

In a phone image, Maps indicates that a user is arriving at the end of their trip. The image includes two sentences with specific details about how to find the charger with a line below that says “summarized by AI.”

This information is possible thanks to the millions of reviews posted every day in Maps, which help provide accurate and up-to-date information about places like charging stations. To help make these even more useful, reviews about chargers now prompt you for additional details about your experience, like what type of plug you used and how long you waited.

Maps shows the review page for a charging station, and prompts the user with several questions about whether they charged successfully, which plug they used and how long they waited for a charger.

Find the best charger for you while you’re on the go

We’re also thinking about other ways we can give people helpful EV charging information at a glance. For example, if you’re low on charge while on the road or you need to top off while running errands, soon you’ll be able to see nearby chargers on the in-car map, with information like real-time port availability and charging speed. This update will roll out globally, starting with vehicles with Google built-in the coming months.

electric vehicle - An image shows an ongoing trip. Nearby charging stations are highlighted that show availability and charging speeds are highlighted nearby.

See suggested charging stops, forecasted energy consumption and more when you plan a trip

In addition to showing you where chargers are at a glance, we want to help you take more complex trips easily. Last year we announced that Maps suggests the best charging locations for vehicles with Google built-in. This capability is expanding to multi-stop trips. So if you’re planning a multi-stop summer road trip to several national parks, Maps will suggest the best charging stops along the way, based on your battery’s charge level. This feature will be available globally in the coming months for vehicles with Google built-in.

An image shows a suggested Maps route with multiple stops, including a suggested charging stop.

And if you’re planning overnight stays, we’ve got you covered, because the last thing you want to do after a long day of driving is hunt around for a charging station. With our new EV filter on google.com/travel you can find hotels on Search that offer onsite EV charging.

Whether you’re planning a summer road trip or looking for a last-minute charge, Maps and Search can help you find the charging information you need.