Google Maps to bring 'fuel-efficient routing' feature to help Indian users save fuel

New Delhi: Google on Tuesday announced several AI-powered India-focused features on Maps, and one of them is "fuel-efficient routing", which it said to bring by January next year to users across the country for four-wheelers as well as two-wheelers, enabling them to save fuel while encouraging sustainable route choices without significantly impacting travel time.

"Applying AI to understand real-time traffic data, road elevation, and even the vehicle's engine type, Google Maps will now identify the route that minimises fuel and emissions," the company said.

From its launch in other countries, from October 2021 through September 2023, this feature is already estimated to have helped prevent over 2.4 million metric tons of CO2e emissions globally -- the equivalent of taking approximately 500,000 fuel-based cars off the road for a year.

"AI has accelerated our ability to build solutions that can scale to the diversity and complexity of a country like India. As we look to the future of Google Maps, we’re committed to building a map that helps people go from knowing about a place to truly experiencing it," Miriam Karthika Daniel, VP, Google Maps Experiences, said in a press conference here.

To deliver on a shared vision of building a more digitised public transport experience and making it accessible to all users, Google announced partnerships with ONDC (Open Network for Digital Commerce) and Namma Yatri.

These partnerships will focus on bringing metro schedules and bookings to users and will launch by mid-next year with Kochi metro on Google Maps powered by Namma Yatri, followed by other metros as they join the ONDC network.

"We are delighted to partner with ONDC and Namma Yatri to enable a more digitised public transport experience accessible to all users. India is rapidly transforming, and at Google Maps, we are excited by the opportunities ahead of us," said Karthika Daniel.

The tech giant also said that it will be bringing Mumbai and Kolkata Local Trains to the Where Is My Train app, enabling access to dynamic information like train location, real-time status, platform changes and more.

In other features, the company launched India-first 'Address Descriptors', for people to easily find locations based on landmarks recommended using machine learning.

It also introduced Lens in Maps and Live View Walking Navigation -- two immersive features built upon Street View -- enabling a more visual and immersive map to transform the way users navigate and explore the world.