I saw that. But one route might be more eco-friendly for a gasser but another route better for a hybrid and still another for a PHEV or BEV. I wonder if it differentiates.
From the article: Google said it derives emissions relative estimates by testing across different types of vehicles and road types, drawing on insights from the U.S. government's National Renewable Energy Lab (NREL). Road grade data comes from its Street View cars as well as aerial and satellite imagery. NREL mobility group manager Jeff Gonder said the lab, which developed a tool known as RouteE to estimate vehicles' energy usage, reached a deal this month to get funding from Google and study the accuracy of its estimates. The potential effect on emissions from the feature is unclear. A study of 20 people at California State University, Long Beach, last year found participants were more inclined to consider carbon emissions in route selection after testing an app that showed estimates. To amplify @jerrymildred comments: highway MPG > city MPG - typical ICE mileage, it needs routes where the distance, highway MPG, is maximum. highway MPG = city MPG - some hybrids, need pretty much any route. highway MPG < city MPG - typical of BEV and high efficiency, Prius metrics looks for slower speed routes like urban driving. I wish them luck but there are significant technical challenges. With 14 years of multiple Prius, 6 years of PHEV, and 2 years of BEV, choosing an optimum route has and remains a challenge. Bob Wilson
Yup. That's my point. WIth a regular Prius in our traffic conditions, I always seemed to get the best fuel efficiency in slow and heavy traffic. With the Prime, it's ridiculously good. Which led me to conclude that they don't have a way to differentiate. I was just being gentle when I said "I wonder."
I don't use Google Map for my travel often, but for most of my travels, there aren't many alternative routes. As the article points out, the choice is given, but the predicted travel is based on the speed limit, I think. I know as a fact I can get better efficiency if I drive interstate hwy at 50mph than at the speed limit. Avoiding hwy is almost always substantially longer trips even driving below the speed limit on hwy. Unless users opt out, the default route will be the "eco-friendly" one if comparable options take about the same time, Google said. When alternatives are significantly faster, Google will offer choices and let users compare estimated emissions.
BUT......this "feature" doesn't really have to accomplish anything useful, they just have to convince you that it does. I hope it is not fraught with some of the problems that trying to plot a "shortest' route sometimes does. Like unimproved roads (dirt) or using alleys and parking lots.
They're going to get some interesting data out of this. "Oh, says here we can save x tons of co2 emissions if we have everyone drive through the gated community instead of around it. Hmmm."
