One of the reasons why people use Google Maps is because they need to get to their destination in the shortest time possible. However, and it might seem a bit unintuitive, the fastest route might not always be the shortest route. This is because the fastest route might put you on a highway that might be a longer distance, but because of the lack of traffic, you might actually reach faster.
That being said, a report from Autoevolution has revealed that in an update to Google Maps, Google will be changing up the algorithm it uses to calculate routes. This means that instead of defaulting to the fastest route possible, Google will now try to find drivers the most fuel-efficient routes.
For example, if Google determines that both the fastest and most fuel-efficient routes have the same estimated arrival time, Google Maps will choose the more eco-friendly option. However, Google isn’t going to force this down everyone’s throats as users will still have the option of choosing whether they want the fastest route or the most green one.
It is an interesting update because fuel efficiency can be determined by many factors. A driver with a heavy foot or who brakes too hard and unnecessarily could still consume more fuel on a so-called fuel-efficient route, but we suppose at the very least Google is giving users options.
Filed in . Read more about Google and Google Maps. Source: autoevolution