Google Maps Update potentially fixes eco-friendly features on iPhone and CarPlay

Back in October, Google Maps received some new eco-friendly features such as Eco-friendly routes and Lite Navigation mode. The former allows users to select the most fuel-efficient routes, while the latter is specifically designed for cyclists and lets them navigate without entering the turn-by-turn interface.

The initial idea behind the new features was to offer similar ETA for both eco-friendly and regular routes but as many users have pointed out, this wasn’t the case. On many occasions, the eco-friendly route was substantially longer than its non-eco-friendly alternative.

This led to a paradox where the eco-friendly route actually increases overall fuel consumption and defeats the purpose of the feature. Now a new update is rolling out for iPhone and CarPlay that seems to polish the bugs in the previous version and fixes eco-friendly routes.

Google Maps version 5.86 is now available on the Play Store and can also be downloaded on iOS devices. The interesting part is that there’s nothing concrete in the release notes. They just read “Thanks for using Google Maps! This release brings bug fixes that improve our product to help you discover new places and navigate to them.”

However, even though there’s no official changelog, the early feedback on this update is very positive. If you have issues with the way eco-friendly routes work at the moment in Google Maps, you should definitely update to the latest version and see if there’s a positive change.