- Google Maps will now show the availability of Tesla Superchargers
- Out of service charging bays will be easily identified
- Tesla has opened its network to a number of competing car manufacturers
Tesla owners have long benefited from the company’s mapping system, which takes live data from the extensive Supercharger network and intelligently directs drivers to the nearest, fastest and most available bays.
But with Tesla opening up its network to other manufacturers, such as Ford, Kia and more, it has fallen to Google to offer a similar service, with the tech giant now showing live availability data for Tesla Superchargers across North America.
This follows reports from earlier this month that Electrify America – one of the largest public charging providers in the US – has also just integrated its live charger information into the popular map application.
The presentation of this data is relatively simple. When searching for a nearby Supercharger, you now receive not only important information such as the charger’s speed, address and contact details (if any), as well as its opening hours, but also the number of stalls available.
This makes it easier not only to plan a route, perhaps choosing the charging providers with the fastest and most abundant sockets, but it can also help on a journey so that users are not directed to congested charging points.
That said, Tesla’s charging stations can still only be used by those vehicles with North American Charging Standard compatibility or via an adapter, often sold separately by the manufacturer.
Good news for the US, old news for everyone else
While the recent Google integration is great news for EV owners in the US, it’s something that the UK, Europe and many other markets have been using for a number of years now.
In many markets, charging providers are required by law to share data through an open API, which allows navigation software, both on smartphones and vehicle infotainment systems. to display this type of information.
A quick search for “EV charger” via Google Maps in the UK, for example, will return a list of all charging providers in the area, almost all of which will have “live” data to show how many are available – or if any are out of service.
Of course, the information Google displays is only as good as the data feed it uses, and from personal experience some charging providers are much more reliable than others.
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