The Mapbox Directions API now supports Electric Vehicle Routing in private preview, enabling automakers to build smarter EVs that are easier to use and app developers to create intelligent navigation apps that accelerate the transition to electric. Mapbox EV Routing considers vehicle characteristics and charging station data to help drivers plan trips that include the best places to stop for charging.

Mapbox EV Routing delivers range predictions that are 30% more accurate than alternatives by considering precise vehicle and road characteristics instead of a simple energy consumption average. Mapbox EV Routing enables developers to define the static and dynamic characteristics of the electric vehicle such as battery level, consumption curve, and charger compatibility to generate routes that get drivers to their destination with the optimal charging stops as well as get precise battery prediction for the trip. Developers can now launch better EV navigation faster.

One-tap EV trip planning

Driving an electric vehicle is an exciting experience and an increasingly popular alternative to internal-combustion-engine vehicles. However, range anxiety remains the biggest obstacle to mass EV adoption, leaving global market share for electric vehicles at nearly 9% in 2021. Potential buyers worry whether electric vehicles can be driven for longer trips and whether they can find a charging station when needed. In addition, nearly 1 in 4 current EV owners believe the navigation experience would be most improved if route planning accounts for vehicle charging needs.

When planning for a long trip, many EV drivers manually search for charging stations across mobile apps to determine which are ideal charging stops out of dozens of options. They need to decide how many times to stop and how long to charge at each. Due to range anxiety, drivers often end up with more charging stops than required. They take longer detours to reach the charger and they charge longer than it is required. All of this leads to longer trip times.

For example, on the trip from Washington, DC to Boston, most electric vehicles need to charge 2-3 times to complete the journey, but drivers have to choose from over 50 charging locations. Mapbox EV Routing provides drivers with an intelligent EV trip planner that automatically identifies the best charging stops along the journey and the optimal charge time for each stop, saving up to 2 hours of trip time and about 1 hour of charging time. Mapbox EV Routing also accounts for live traffic conditions and can recompute the charge plan as conditions change along the way, sparing drivers from the nerve-wracking low-range alerts.

Improving the EV driver experience will increase electric vehicle adoption, helping to prevent millions of tons of CO2e emissions from vehicles.

Range Anxiety No More

Most EVs monitor historic efficiency in miles/kwh and use it to predict battery level at the end of a current trip. However, when the driver takes a journey on a road with varying speeds, elevation changes, or traffic conditions, the prediction is unreliable. For an average trip of 100 miles, historic efficiency based prediction can be off by 30%-50%.

Mapbox EV Routing forms a seamless link between vehicle, location and traffic data to predict precise battery levels for the full trip ahead. Developers can auto-search for nearby charging stations or trigger a new route request in case the destination is no longer in range due to changing environmental conditions or driving modes. Developers can also monitor the changing traffic conditions and refresh the battery estimation in real time, which means drivers will no longer receive unexpected alerts of low vehicle range. According to Forbes, a lack of range predictability is a significant factor fueling range anxiety among EV drivers.

Because each electric vehicle is unique and battery drain occurs at different rates, the ability for developers to define vehicle characteristics is critical. Mapbox EV Routing accounts for factors that influence energy consumption, such as driving behavior, road speed, road elevation, battery level, speed acceleration and deceleration, vehicle cabin consumption, and battery temperature.