How can the birthplace of Tesla be so far behind?
I live in Northern California.
More specifically, the Bay Area.
A Better Route Planner in a web browser.Stocksnap / Mockup Photos
You may know it as Silicon Valley.
This is where many of your favorite pieces of tech were conceived.
If it’s in tech, it was probably born here.
Erik McClean / Unsplash
Including the company that helped kick off the electric vehicle (EV) revolution, Tesla.
Everywhere I look in Northern California, I see EVs.
A higher concentration than nearly anywhere else in the country.
Where Are You Going?
Both Google and Apple have done… something.
Google now offers up the most efficient route to a location.
Apple seemed ready to make this a realitywith an actual EV routing feature.
You see, it’s been hard to get a Bolt in because of that whole battery issue.
The app was also supposed to get support for Ford and BMW EVs.
But aquick look at forumsshows it hasn’t shown up yet.
We reached out to Apple about what’s happening with this feature.
Making sure it works with multiple OS versions and vehicles?
That’s near impossible.
But only near, not totally impossible.
There are ways to make this work.
If you’ve never used it, you may be surprised to learn aboutA Better Route Planner.
It essentially does what I would like to see from Apple.
It works with Apple Maps and Android Auto.
What it doesn’t do is connect deeply with your vehicle.
Instead, you should probably input some information.
You throw all that info in there, and it creates a route.
The rub is, you better pay for a subscription for it to work with CarPlay or Android Auto.
There are, of course, EV charging data pipe apps.
Those typically only show stations and don’t have routing capabilities which is also slightly disappointing.
The Maps team just needs to figure out how the rest of us with not-Swedish EVs can use it.
The more junior employees are cruising down Interstate 280 in Model 3s, Volkswagen ID.4s, and Ford Mach-Es.
They are the first adopters.
But not all of them, and to be honest, we all still use Apple and Google Maps.
The giant tech companies just need to help us seamlessly get around in our EVs.
Want to know more about EVs?
We have awhole section dedicated to electric vehicles!
