iOS 17 adds real-time charging availability info for EV drivers

With iOS 17 this year, Apple is further expanding on its set of features in Apple Maps for electric car owners. Starting this year, Apple Maps will show real-time charging availability information and let drivers choose a preferred charging network.

Apple first announced support for EV routing in Apple Maps back at WWDC 2020. The feature eventually debuted for Ford Mustang Mach-E drivers last year, followed by Porsche Taycan drivers earlier this year.

With iOS 17 installed on your iPhone, Apple Maps will prompt you to set up your preferred charging networks for your EV. You can choose from a long list of options, including Electrify America, Chargepoint, Tesla’s Supercharger network, and more.

Once you choose your preferred networks, Apple Maps will intelligently present you with real-time charging availability information. For instance, this will show the number of total stalls available at a specific charging station and how many of those are currently occupied.

Based on the electric car you drive, Apple Maps will only show you charging options that are compatible with the charging connector used by your car. In iOS 17 beta 1, the feature still appears to be a work in progress and is missing some of the necessary data.

“When driving an electric vehicle, you can now choose a preferred charging network and see real-time charging station availability,” Apple explains.

As of right now, it appears that this feature is only available to cars that support Apple Maps EV routing, which is only the Mach-E and Taycan. Still, we expect more EV makers to adopt the feature in the future, and this is a great improvement to have – especially when using CarPlay.

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