Owners of Ford Mustang Mach-E and F-150 Lightning electric vehicles are getting an over-the-air software update that will finally give Android Auto users a bit of an upgrade. Once the update is installed, Ford’s EVs will report their battery state of charge to Google Maps when the app is running on an Android phone and being cast to the Ford’s infotainment system via Android Auto.
That means Google Maps can calculate an estimated state of charge upon arrival at the route’s end and will suggest charging stops along the way, including estimated charge times.
A similar feature has been available to iOS users casting Apple Maps to Ford EVs via CarPlay since late last year, and it worked quite well when we tried it out with the F-150 Lightning back in January.
Google has not quite kept pace with Apple in terms of adding new features or improvements to its system for casting the phone to a car‘s infotainment, perhaps preferring to concentrate on the underlying operating system for that infotainment system. Many OEMs have moved to using Android Automotive (which is confusingly named but different from Android Auto) instead of Linux, with a subset of those also using Google Automotive Services, which includes a voice assistant.
Now, Android Auto users will get some features yet to appear in Apple Maps. If you set a fast charger as a destination using Google Maps on an Android phone using Android Auto, it will tell the Ford EV to begin preconditioning the battery for a more efficient charge. And Google Maps will also show users any compatible Tesla Supercharger locations and availability along the route. Take that, iPhone users.
