In October of last year, Google announced that it would begin displaying real-time information on Google Maps about charging stations for electric vehicles (EV), including their availability. It seems the rollout of that feature has taken six months to complete as Google announced today that Maps now shows the real-time availability details of different charging stations across the United States and UK.
With this capability, EV owners will be able to see which port has a vacant slot for charging their vehicle by just searching for “EV charging stations” on Maps. Various charging infrastructures including Chargemaster, EVgo, and SemaConnect will then provide the latest information about a charging port such as its location, port types, and charging speeds in addition to availability. Chargepoint will be onboard soon, Google says.
Images provided by other drivers will also show up on Maps along with station ratings, reviews, and questions. These types of information may help drivers select which charging point to go to depending on whether it"s worth their time.
Google Maps Product Manager Alex Donaldson wrote in a blog post:
"If you’ve ever driven to an electric vehicle charging station only to find that all ports are occupied, you know that you could end up waiting in line for anywhere between minutes to hours—which can really put a damper on your day when you have places to go and things to do."
The real-time EV charging information is available to Google Maps users on desktop, Android, iOS, and Android Auto. Keep in mind to update Maps first to its latest version.