Ford is bringing several new features to its electric vehicles (EVs), including EV routing for Google Maps and suggested charging stops with support for the Tesla Supercharger network.

A new software began rolling out today to owners of Ford’s F-150 Lightning and Mustang Mach-E electric models. It adds new EV routing in Google Maps, which finds EV charging stations along your route while monitoring battery usage, so you never get stuck somehwere with no charge left. The company said in an announcement, “Our team saw an opportunity to provide customers with an end-to-end EV routing experience in Google Maps, and we’re proud to work with Google to make it happen.”

If you own a Ford EV, you’ll be notified via the SYNC 4 system about a pending update and will need to authorize the installation. To manually check for updates, go into FordPass, choose the Features and Settings section and select the Software Updates option (the most recent update is listed underneath the Recent Changes heading). After the update has installed, you should download the latest version of Google Maps to your smartphone before opening the app in Android Auto.

The update also adds an estimated battery level upon arrival at a destination. That should help reduce range anxiety, as the car will tell you when to stop for a quick charge before arriving at your final destination. If you need to charge along the way, this update will also let F-150 Lightning and Mustang Mach-E owners view compatible Tesla Supercharger along their route. Information visible on the built-in Google Maps app on Android Auto includes charger type (AC, DC, etc.), speed, and so on.

When navigating to a DC fast charger, the new firmware will precondition the battery to keep it at a healthy temperature for faster charging, as well as estimate how long charging will take based on real-time data from the vehicle.

Ford EV owners can charge their vehicle on Tesla Superchargers using an adapter. The company used to treat EV owners to free NACS adapters for Tesla Superchargers, but advised people to stop using them due to a flaw that could reduce charging speeds over time or even damage the charging port. Free replacement adapters started shipping today.

Ford recently unveiled the BlueCruise 1.5 highway driving software with an automatic lane change feature that can initiate a hands-free lane change to pass cars moving slower than the speed limit, based on sensor and camera input.

Source: Ford