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Google today announced a new feature for electric vehicle owners that uses artificial intelligence to sort through thousands of public charging stations while finding the best route. The level of technology required to make this type of route planning work is a pretty clear indication of what unholy messy electric vehicle charging is in America today.
In a blog post published Wednesday, Google acknowledges that route planning in an electric vehicle can be like “solving a puzzle” (which is too polite to put it), with electric vehicle owners needing to find out. the right charging station within reach that also has the specific type of plug their car needs.
The new feature will only work for EVs with Google’s native Android Automotive system installed as the primary operating system. Right now, the only two models equipped with Android Automotive are the Polestar 2 and the Volvo XC40 Recharge, but Google says more are on the way.
Google uses a newly developed routing algorithm that uses a type of calculation called “graph theory” to present recommendations to stop charging EV owners based on their location, the range remaining in their vehicle, and the type. outlet used by their vehicles. Google writes:
Now, when you enter a destination that requires at least two charging stops, Maps algorithms will search and filter through tens to thousands of public charging stations to find the most efficient route, all in under 10 seconds. You can see how long each charge will take and your updated total travel time, so your final ETA will never be a mystery again.
Electric vehicle charging stations in the United States typically have one of two types of standards: CCS (Combined Charging System), which was first deployed in 2013; and CHAdeMO, a trade name for a fast charging method. Nissan and Mitsubishi use CHAdeMO, while Jaguar and BMW use CCS, for example.
Tesla has yet to offer CCS adapters for its vehicles. It offers CHAdeMO adapters, but the charging industry seems to be moving towards the CCS standard. It was still slow, however. The U.S. Government’s Alternative Fuels Data Center database says there are even more places to quickly recharge CHAdeMO vehicles than those with CCS.
Google Maps recently added a new feature that allows you to search for electric car charging stations based on the type of plug they offer. But this feature uses more data about your range and type of outlet to help you take the guesswork out of route planning.
The new algorithmic route planning will also work on shorter journeys and will soon include details of the payment methods accepted at individual charging stations for European customers.
Charging electric vehicles in the US is a bit of a patchwork, with companies like EVgo, Electrify America (which is owned by Volkswagen), and ChargePoint all offering different levels of voltage and plug compatibility. Some stations are more functional than others and there is a general lack of real-time information for EV owners on which stations are in use and which are not.
President Joe Biden wants to shed the weight of the federal government in improving the charging infrastructure in the United States. He has pledged to spend billions of dollars to add 550,000 electric vehicle charging stations in the United States during his tenure.
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