EV Charging Stations on google maps

• The number of electric vehicles over the last decade has significantly increased due to various reasons. Electric cars are relatively cheaper, making them more accessible to the public. They are cheaper to run and maintain. The fuel source used by Electric vehicles is electricity. The owner of these vehicles charges them at home and commercially available charging stations.

Charging stations:

With the increase in the number of electric vehicles, there has been a drastic increase in charging stations. In the USA alone, in 2010, there was 506 electric vehicle charging stations. Now, more than 26000 charging stations are available. Similarly, the number of charging stations in the Uk has increased to 10,000. The graph below shows the number of charging stations in different countries around the globe.

The charging stations use electricity from the grid, thus increasing the overall electricity consumption. Most of the electricity produced around the globe is fossil fuel-based. To fully utilize electric vehicles\' potential, there is a need for charging stations worldwide to use renewable sources of electricity such as hydroelectricity, wind turbines, solar electricity, etc. With the advancements in solar energy capturing technology making it cheaper and reliable, charging stations have equipped themselves with solar technology, making the charging process energy-efficient and environmentally friendly. The use of solar charging also decreases the load on the electricity grid.

Solar-powered charging stations:

Solar-powered charging stations have many advantages with little to no limitations. They use renewable green energy to produce electricity to charge your cars and decrease electricity grids load. They are beneficial for both the environment and the economy. Most of the charging stations have to be placed near a transformer to charge your car fast. It is impossible to have a dedicated transformer for every charging station in less developed areas. One solution to this problem is integrating a charging station with solar technology. The solar stations can fast charge your car and reduce the heavy draw from the local electricity grid. For example, In the rural areas of California, eight new solar-powered charging stations are installed. They are capable of charging two vehicles simultaneously at a speed of 3.3 kW.

The solar-powered charging stations are applicable on both domestic scale and commercial scales. 

EV Charging stations on google maps:

One other problem that electric vehicle users face is the amount of time it takes to charge your vehicle at a commercially available charging station. With an Internal combustion engine that uses gasoline as the fuel source, you can fill your car up in 5 minutes. However, with electric vehicles, the case is different. The charging time significantly increases if more vehicles are present or there is a power shortage for any reason.

Solution:

To solve this problem, Google has come with real-time monitoring of charging stations. With this, the possibility of EV users waiting for long times becomes nonexistent. Not only do you know where the nearest charging station is, but you are also able to determine if there is a queue on that station or not, thus saving yourself time and money.

Features:

With the integration of google maps and charging stations, you know the situation at charging stations, and it comes with some added features. These added features are 

Filters for EV charger plug types:

Usually, charging stations have almost all types of standard plugs; however, a few charging stations are an exemption, i.e., they might not have the plug type suitable for your Electric vehicle. With google maps, you know the kind of plugs available to charge your car at the charging station. Some different types of plugs are: CHAdeMO, CCS, Type 2, or Tesla\'s proprietary plug type 

The battery on arrival:

When you enter your required destination on google maps, it shows your electric vehicle\'s estimated battery on reaching the destination. The battery estimation will update continuously till you reach the destination.

Charging assistance:

Need one charge to reach the destination, charging assistance displays ranges of the station that are unoccupied and according to the type of plug used in your EV

Scope of the maps:

Google maps will show charging stations and the other features in every country/place where they have charging stations available.