Late last year, Google updated Maps to show nearby electric vehicle charging stations. Maps will show you information about the business where the EV charging station is located, what kind and how many ports are available, the charging speeds, and other information including reviews, photos, and more. Charging station information is pulled from Tesla, Chargepoint, SemaConnect, EVgo, Blink, Chargemaster, Pod Point, and Chargefox. While these services provide Google Maps a huge number of EV charging stations to show on the map, the driver still needs to use a separate app to pay for charging. That could change in the near future, however, as Google Maps 10.30 for Android has added strings that suggest it will support making payments straight from the app.
An APK teardown can often predict features that may arrive in a future update of an application, but it is possible that any of the features we mention here may not make it in a future release. This is because these features are currently unimplemented in the live build and may be pulled at any time by the developers in a future build.
Pay for Charging
New in version 10.30 are the following two strings, part of a larger set of strings pertaining to electric vehicles, that describe adding payment methods to the user's electric vehicle profile.
<string name="EV_PROFILE_VIEW_NETWORKS_HEADING">Your payment methods</string>
<string name="EV_PROFILE_ADD_NETWORKS">Add payment methods</string>
Electric Vehicle Profile, Finding Compatible Plugs
As mentioned, Google Maps is preparing to let you update your profile with information on your electric vehicle. You'll be able to add your plugs so you'll only see compatible charging stations when searching in the app.
<string name="EV_PROFILE_ADD_CONNECTORS_V2">Add plugs</string>
<string name="EV_PROFILE_EDIT">Edit</string>
<string name="EV_PROFILE_EDIT_CONNECTORS_TITLE_V2">Your plugs</string>
<string name="EV_PROFILE_LOADING_FAILED_MESSAGE">Please check your internet connection</string>
<string name="EV_PROFILE_LOADING_FAILED_RETRY_BUTTON_TEXT">Try again</string>
<string name="EV_PROFILE_LOADING_FAILED_TITLE">Maps is offline</string>
<string name="EV_PROFILE_OVERVIEW_TITLE">Electric vehicle settings</string>
<string name="EV_PROFILE_PIVOT_TOOLTIP_TEXT_V2">Showing compatible charging stations</string>
<string name="EV_PROFILE_PROMO_CARD_ACTION_TEXT_V2">Add plugs</string>
<string name="EV_PROFILE_PROMO_CARD_DESCRIPTION_V3">To only see charging stations that work with your EV, add your plugs</string>
<string name="EV_PROFILE_PROMO_CARD_DISMISS_TEXT_V2">No thanks</string>
<string name="EV_PROFILE_PROMO_CARD_TITLE_TEXT_V3">Get compatible charging stations</string>
<string name="EV_PROFILE_SEE_LESS">See less</string>
<string name="EV_PROFILE_SEE_MORE">See more</string>
<string name="EV_PROFILE_SETTINGS_TITLE_V2">Electric vehicle settings</string>
<string name="EV_PROFILE_VIEW_CONNECTORS_HEADING_V2">Your plugs</string>
<string name="RESTRICTION_EV_PROFILE_ANY_PLUGS">Any plugs</string>
<string name="RESTRICTION_EV_PROFILE_V2">EV plugs</string>
<string name="RESTRICTION_EV_PROFILE_YOUR_PLUGS">Your plugs</string>
<string name="CAR_EVCP_IN_SEARCH_APPLIED_TEXT">Showing compatible charging stations</string>
<string name="CAR_EVCP_IN_SEARCH_NOT_APPLIED_TEXT">Showing all results. Some charging stations may not match your plugs.</string>
These features are not yet live in the Google Maps app for Android. We'll probably see an announcement from Google in a few days or weeks, though. The last time Google Maps was updated with a new EV-related feature was back in April when they added real-time availability of charging ports. With new electric vehicles on the way, the Maps app is long overdue for new functionality.
Thanks to PNF Software for providing us a license to use JEB Decompiler, a professional-grade reverse engineering tool for Android applications.