Photo: Google
Google Maps is getting a brand-new navigation feature whose purpose is as simple as possible: generate routes that would eventually help reduce fuel consumption.
How it does this is new-generation tech at its best. When proposing a route towards a user-defined destination, Google Maps will also look into a series of new factors, including road incline and traffic congestion.
The latter is already used when generating routes, but based on the new model, Google Maps’ purpose is to determine whether the path you’d be following would help reduce the environmental footprint or not.
Google explains the provided routes will also be optimized for lower fuel consumption. In addition, because the company is so serious about the whole thing, Google Maps will automatically default to the most fuel-efficient route for every driver.
On the other hand, this doesn’t mean that the fastest routes are gone. Google says Google Maps will carefully look into all the found routes, run a quick comparison, and only default to the one with the lowest carbon footprint if it has approximately the same ETA as the fastest.
“Google Maps will default to the route with the lowest carbon footprint when it has approximately the same ETA as the fastest route. In cases where the eco-friendly route could significantly increase your ETA, we’ll let you compare the relative CO2 impact between routes so you can choose,” Google explains.
The good news is that this new setting wouldn’t be forced on you. Google Maps will come with an option to adjust how you want routes generated, so if you still want to use the fastest one, you can change this from the settings screen.
The new feature is called eco-friendly routes and is projected to launch in the United States on Android and iPhone later this year. Google says it’s already working on an international launch, but more specifics will be shared at a later time.
The latter is already used when generating routes, but based on the new model, Google Maps’ purpose is to determine whether the path you’d be following would help reduce the environmental footprint or not.
Google explains the provided routes will also be optimized for lower fuel consumption. In addition, because the company is so serious about the whole thing, Google Maps will automatically default to the most fuel-efficient route for every driver.
On the other hand, this doesn’t mean that the fastest routes are gone. Google says Google Maps will carefully look into all the found routes, run a quick comparison, and only default to the one with the lowest carbon footprint if it has approximately the same ETA as the fastest.
“Google Maps will default to the route with the lowest carbon footprint when it has approximately the same ETA as the fastest route. In cases where the eco-friendly route could significantly increase your ETA, we’ll let you compare the relative CO2 impact between routes so you can choose,” Google explains.
The good news is that this new setting wouldn’t be forced on you. Google Maps will come with an option to adjust how you want routes generated, so if you still want to use the fastest one, you can change this from the settings screen.
The new feature is called eco-friendly routes and is projected to launch in the United States on Android and iPhone later this year. Google says it’s already working on an international launch, but more specifics will be shared at a later time.
Google News