The Waze mobile app now displays accurate information about electric vehicle charging stations along your route thanks to a crowdsourced map editing feature.
- What’s happening? Waze’s mapping software has launched a new feature that allows drivers to quickly find charging stations for their electric vehicle (EV).
- Why care? Through crowdsourced information and its local editors, Waze hopes to rid you of outdated or inaccurate information about charging stations.
- What to do? Please update your Waze app to access this feature. Charging stations for electric vehicles will be automatically highlighted on the map.
Waze now shows electric vehicle charging stations along the route.
The feature is available to some users starting today, but the company warns it will take several weeks to roll out globally. If you still don’t see EV charging data when planning your trip in Waze, check back in a few days or try manually updating the app by clicking the Update button on the Waze App Store page.
After you enter your vehicle information and preferred outlet type into the app, Waze will highlight the nearest electric vehicle charging stations along your route, including information such as hours of operation, distance, location, and compatibility with your vehicle.
Problem with EV information in mapping applications
Inaccurate EV charging information often gets in the way of mapping applications. Waze hopes to address this issue by using its community editors and crowdsourced map editing features to view and update submitted EV charging information.
Charging station information is often inconsistent, outdated or unreliable, posing a major problem for EV drivers who may reach a charging station only to find they cannot find or use it. By adding up-to-date EV charging information to your Waze map, it’s even easier to charge your car and get help figuring out where and when you’ll meet your next station.
Waze’s route planning feature briefly showed EV chargers in 2021 as part of a trial that lasted several weeks. A spokesperson for the company confirmed to The Verge that EV charging information is now permanently available on the Google-owned app.
If you haven’t used Waze yet, it’s a satellite navigation app that uses crowdsourced information to provide the most accurate travel time estimate and more.
Electric vehicle route planning with Apple Maps
Apple has added electric vehicle route planning to its Maps app on iPhone, iPad, and Mac with iOS 14, iPadOS 14, and macOS Big Sur and later. This feature helps eliminate range anxiety by considering factors such as terrain altitude, weather conditions, and your vehicle’s current charge to show you the most suitable EV charging stops along your route.