What you need to know
- EV drivers will soon be able to locate compatible charging stations along the way using the Waze app.
- To find the nearest EV charger, users must enter their vehicle model and plug type into the app.
- The feature will be available globally over the next few weeks.
Electric vehicle drivers will soon have one less pain in the neck when hitting the road, as Waze has introduced a minor update that will make it easier to find charging stations that are compatible with their EVs.
In a blog post, Google announced that EV charger locators will roll out on the Waze app over the coming weeks globally. The new feature will ask EV owners to enter key details into the app, including their vehicle information and plug type. Waze will then search for the nearest compatible charging stations along the way.
Google notes that charging station information may not always be reliable and consistent, causing a headache for EV drivers. "Charging station information is often inconsistent, outdated or unreliable, creating a major pain point for EV drivers who may navigate to a charging station only to discover they can’t find it or use it," according to Google.
To address this pain point, Waze will rely on its community of local map editors to feed accurate, real-time EV charging data to the app.
You may recall that Waze tested a similar feature in 2021 in collaboration with Volkswagen, only to remove it a few weeks later, as per The Verge. The feature's return to the app is presumably for good. In the same year, Google Maps also gained an update that allows EV owners to find charging stations while on the road.
It's possible that the feature's reappearance is related to Google's decision last December to combine the Maps and Waze teams under one roof as part of a larger cost-cutting measure.
However, the update has a few rough edges that need polishing. Electrek reports that Waze's EV charging station finder occasionally directs drivers to gas stations instead. It appears that the feature is not yet available to all users in the United States. In a statement to Electrek, Google confirmed that the EV charger locator will make its way to all Waze users in the country by mid-April.
As it stands, the feature is now available in Albania, Bosnia, Brazil, Chile, Estonia, Hungary, Iceland, Israel, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxemburg, Mexico, Moldova, Monaco, New Zealand, Poland, San Marino, Serbia, Singapore, Slovakia, and Sweden.
