If you care about the environment more than you do about spending as little time as possible behind the wheel, Google has you covered starting today in nearly 40 European countries in addition to the US and Canada.
The search giant's crazy popular and already immensely convenient web mapping and navigation service officially supports eco-friendly routing now across all those territories, aiming to play its very own (small) role in saving our planet while also potentially saving you quite a bit of gas money in the long run.
Even though you can obviously still choose the fastest route for each and every one of your Google Maps-assisted road trips, the app (both on Android and iOS) will show you greener and cheaper albeit longer alternatives as well.
As some of you driving veterans might already be aware, lower speeds can sometimes reduce fuel consumption... depending on the type of engine under the hood of your car. Because that's one of the few pieces of information about you that Big G cannot access (officially), you'll have to tell your Maps app if you drive a hybrid, electric, diesel, or petrol vehicle for maximum efficiency of the eco-friendly routing feature.
You can do that from the "Route options" menu found by tapping the three-dot button at the top right of your main Google Maps screen after ticking the box confirming you do indeed "prefer fuel-efficient routes."
Of course, the service won't always find such alternatives, only offering them to you when they're slightly slower than the main option. Still, your fuel savings can definitely add up after a while, not to mention the environmental impact you can have with just a few taps and a few extra minutes lost in traffic from time to time.
Case in point, Google says the eco-friendly routing functionality has "helped remove more than half a million metric tons of carbon emissions" since exclusively launching in the US and Canada last year. That's apparently "equivalent to taking 100,000 fuel-based cars off the road", which sounds way more impactful than you may have expected from a relatively small Google Maps component.
Adrian, a mobile technology enthusiast since the Nokia 3310 era, has been a dynamic presence in the tech journalism field, contributing to Android Authority, Digital Trends, and Pocketnow before joining PhoneArena in 2018. His expertise spans across various platforms, with a particular fondness for the diversity of the Android ecosystem. Despite the challenges of balancing full-time parenthood with his work, Adrian's passion for tech trends, running, and movies keeps him energized. His commitment to mid-range smartphones has led to an eclectic collection of devices, saved from personal bankruptcy by his preference for 'adequate' over 'overpriced'.
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