What you need to know
- EV drivers can use the Waze app to quickly find compatible charging stations along the way.
- To find the nearest EV charger, users must enter their vehicle model and plug type into the app.
- This feature will be available worldwide in the coming weeks.
Electric vehicle drivers will soon have one less sore neck when they hit the road, as Waze has introduced a minor update that makes it easier to find EV-compatible charging stations.
in a blog post (opens in new tab), Google announced that the EV charger locator will be rolled out worldwide on the Waze app over the next few weeks. The new feature asks EV owners to enter key details such as vehicle information and plug type into the app. Waze will then search for the closest compatible charging station on the way.
Google notes that charging station information is not always reliable and consistent, causing headaches for EV drivers. According to Google, “Charging station information is often inconsistent, outdated, and unreliable, making it difficult for EV drivers who arrive at charging stations only to find them and not use them. It’s a big problem,” he said.
To address this pain point, Waze relies on a community of local map editors to feed its app with accurate, real-time EV charging data.
According to The Verge, Waze tested a similar feature with Volkswagen in 2021, but it was removed after a few weeks. (opens in new tab)The return of functionality to the app is probably a good thing. That same year, Google Maps was also updated to help EV owners find charging stations while on the move.
The feature’s reintroduction may be related to Google’s decision last December to combine the Maps and Waze teams under one roof as part of a larger cost-cutting initiative.
However, this update has some rough edges that need polishing.electric (opens in new tab) reports that Waze’s EV charging station finder may direct drivers to gas stations instead. It looks like this feature is not yet available for all US users. In his statement to Electrek, Google confirmed that the EV charger locator will be available to all his Waze users in the country by mid-April.
Currently this feature is available in Albania, Bosnia, Brazil, Chile, Estonia, Hungary, Iceland, Israel, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Mexico, Moldova, Monaco, New Zealand, Poland, San Marino, Serbia, Singapore, Slovakia, Sweden.
