Electric vehicles are slowly becoming more popular despite some limitations with things like pricing (it’s still pretty expensive compared to regular and hybrid cars) and the availability of charging stations (very important information to have especially for long drives). Waze can at least now contribute to the latter as they are now finally adding support for EV charging stations information on their app. We emphasize the word “finally” since its sister navigation app Google Maps has had this information available for a couple of years already so at least now they are catching up.
9 to 5 Google says that Waze has partnered with Volkswagen and the two are launching a special campaign as they’re now showing EV charging stations in the U.S. Previously, you could only see gas stations within the navigation app but now if you own an electric vehicle, you’ll also be able to see where you can charge your cars in case you’re low on power. Drivers will be able to add them to their current route as well.
According to Jeffrey Kohl, Waze’s Head of Industry, this partnership with Volkswagen is “helping to shape what EV looks like” within the Waze map. They also timed to bring this new option as the next few days are a busy holiday travel period within the country. And with more automative brands creating electric vehicles, we need to see where these cars will be able to power up. The feature is “highlighting the breadth of EV stations available across the U.S”.
As part of this campaign, Waze users can change their car icon to the Volkswagen ID.4 EV, even if their car isn’t that or is not even an electric vehicle. It can be part of you manifesting that you want that specific car or you just want to change your icon to be cool. It should be noted that Google Maps has actually been showing EV charging stations within the app since 2019. They even have real-time availability data which hopefully Waze will have soon as well.
If you live in the U.S, you can check your Waze and see if the EV charging stations are showing up already. Some are already seeing it live but it’s a server-side update so you’ll have to wait if it’s not yet there for you.
