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Google to Allow EV Charging Payments in the Maps App

One of the major concerns for electric car owners used to be finding a charging station on the road, in order to juice up their ride. Now, there are countless apps helping with that, but that's also part of the problem. 
Google Maps Update Will Offer Payment Options for EV Recharge 2 photos
Photo: Youtube / Rich De Muro
Google Will Allow Payment Options For EV Recharge
Last year, Google's Maps app got a major bump and started showing in real time the availability of nearby charging ports. It was abig improvement, but apparently more are on the way.

Following the update, the app started to provide drivers with valuable information such as what kind of ports are supported, how many are available, power outputs and charging speeds, and the usual trivia with photos, reviews and so on. At launch, the feature was only available for owners in the U.S. and the UK.

Having that sorted and out of the way, there are still a lot of problems facing EV owners. Presently, if you own an EV and use Google or whatever app to help you get to the nearest compatible charging station, you would still have to use a separate payment app or token for each charging provider.

It seems though like Google has another surprise planned, as xda-developers found a chunk of strings in the code of the new 10.30 Maps version, which suggests Google plans to integrate EV charging payment options directly in the application.

To make things even better, the bits of code that were identified suggest the app will also let you create a ‘profile’ for your vehicle, this way directing you only towards charging stations that are compatible with the car you drive.

The features are not available yet for Google Maps users, but there are speculations that an announcement from Google regarding the 10.30 update might make its way out into the open by the end of this year.
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