It will soon be much easier to find an electric vehicle charging station thanks to Waze, the famous guidance application finally preparing to integrate practical information on the precious stations into its maps.
It took some time, but here we are! After a chaotic journey to say the least, Waze is finally adding charging stations for electric vehicles to its maps. As announced on his blog, drivers will be able to search – and find! – charging stations available on their routes. A task that can be complicated given that information on the type of stations is often outdated or unreliable. This is particularly the case for those who do not live in a metropolis with dedicated places – for example, Paris works with an annual subscription card -, not to mention the fact that they juggle with connector formats (CHAdeMo, domestic socket, type 2, CCS Combo 2…), powers and operators. In short, refueling electricity is often like a headache that often requires drivers to use specialized applications to find terminals (see our selection), while at the same time using a GPS application to head to. The new function of Waze, which is already available in certain countries (Brazil, Israel…) and which should arrive by the end of April in France, will therefore greatly simplify things.
Waze: real-time data for easier travel
Waze will however have had trouble setting up this function! During the summer of 2022, the firm joined forces with Norauto to offer a display of charging stations on its application. Problem: a lot of terminals were missing and, failing to compete with the usual tools of electric car users (Chargemap, ABRP…), Waze had decided to end this partnership as of August 28, 2022. Hopefully this time will be the right one ! Note that Google Maps had deployed this same function in December of last year. We can therefore assume that the Israeli application was able to benefit from the latter’s data thanks to the merger between the two teams.
With this new function, Waze finally intends to allow users to search for charging points near their position, according to the type of electric current (AC or DC) and the power delivered. When updating, Wazers will be prompted for the type of vehicle they have, to allow the app to automatically display suitable charging stations. This will make it easier for drivers to plan their journey. And thanks to the local editors of Waze’s Map Editor Community (MEC) program, the application will be able to count on the commitment of its community – this is what has made it so successful – so that the data is updated in real time. , thus providing accurate and complete information. Whether it’s for a long trip or to cross the city, you can therefore be sure to find a solution without having to alternate between several applications!