Google Maps is planning a new feature that may help bring down your fuel bill – Times of India

Google Maps’ latest beta update, version 11.39, comes with options to specify the engine type of the vehicle users will be driving to help “save you the most fuel or energy” when driving to someplace, as per a report by 9To5Google. Presently, Google gives users four options – gas, diesel, electric and hybrid -– to figure out which route will prove to be the most fuel-efficient for a vehicle with a specific type of engine. The aim is to suggest to the Google Maps user the best route to take to save fuel or energy, as per the type of his vehicle engine.
The report adds that Google may also add the option to switch to a different engine type, when it launches the feature with the final build.
The fuel efficiency of vehicles of all the engine types are not the same and while the traditional gas engine vehicles are there aplenty, there is a growing number of electric and hybrid vehicles too. And then, there are diesel vehicles too. The fuel efficiency varies across the different types of engines and so, the feature could prove popular with the users, when it rolls out.
Currently, this feature is in beta testing only, as per the report and it might take a few more weeks for the owners of the electric and the hybrid vehicles to test out the new functionality.
Google Maps introduced a new upgrade in May, one of which was the Street View imagery on Android and iOS apps. Before the update, only the desktop version of Google Maps allowed users to view Street View imagery and see how a place has changed over the years. But Street View enabled users to experience the same on their smartphone via the Android and iOS apps of the service.
Google also launched a new portable camera. The camera is a 360-degree one and could be attached to “any vehicle with a roof rack and operated right from a mobile device — no need for a specialized car or complex processing equipment.”