Google Maps Was Already Garbage For EV Drivers, So They Fit Into MAGA Perfectly – CleanTechnica

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Recently, Google Maps decided to cave in to the Trump Regime and obey in advance. Without a single threat or even an executive order requiring it (it only applied to the federal government, not private companies), the company changed the name of the Gulf of Mexico to the “Gulf of America” on the popular Google Maps program.

Of course, some people will say that even being mildly annoyed by this is a sign of one being a “snowflake” or “woketard” or whatever they’re calling people they disagree with these days. But, this is a superficial view of the situation at best. When Barack Obama fired the head of General Motors after the bailout, Republicans were quick to call the move “communism” or “fascism,” but when an American company bends the knee to their guy, they are 100% cool with it. If there weren’t double standards for these kinds of things, they’d have no standards at all.

Instead of just stopping at encouraging everyone to boycott the app (which would deprive Google of ad revenue in Maps and force them to reconsider), I’m instead going to point out that Google Maps already sucked, especially for EV drivers. Even if you’re the kind of 普信男 who agrees with the “Gulf of America” change because you think Trump somehow made you great by putting others down, you have to admit that the app left a LOT to be desired for EV drivers.

For example, the EV charging station feature still has a lot of problems. For one, there are stations that aren’t listed on the map. Perhaps more importantly, there are stations listed as fast chargers that only provide L2 charging. Either way, everyone knows that you’re better off using your car’s navigation or an app like PlugShare to find places to charge. For a company that prides itself on providing people with the best data quickly, that’s pretty pathetic.

Another problem is the lack of decent EV navigation. Sure, it can route you to a nearby charger, but it can’t help you actually come up with a plan for a road trip the way Tesla’s built-in trip planner does. To get that without a Tesla, you need to use A Better Route Planner (Rivian uses this natively) or Chargeway to get the same feature. All Google would have needed to do was partner with ABRP or build their own trip planning app to plan trips that don’t leave you stranded.

Really, at this point, Google Maps is half-heartedly trying to implement EV driver features without providing a real end-to-end experience for EV drivers. Instead of replacing a handful of apps and providing everything travelers in EVs need, anyone actually trying to rely on Google alone for EV travel still runs the serious risk of getting stranded or spending 8 hours charging instead of 30 minutes.

Given the arrogance of Google, combined with this rank incompetence, it’s safe to say that the company is aligned with MAGA a lot more than on map location names or even donations. MAGA should really be called “Make Average Great Again,” because that’s the market they cater to. Pathetic people who need to feel a sense of pride in things they didn’t earn (race, religion, sexuality, etc.) and feel better about themselves by putting others down — that’s the kind of loser that Trump gives a cheap dopamine rush to every time he “owns the libs.”

Instead of building a great product that appeals to everyone and stands on its own merit, the company instead seeks to survive by licking Trump’s boot in hopes of continuing to get special favors, or at least a lack of mistreatment, from the regime. That’s the kind of weakness this move truly puts on display.

Featured image: a screenshot of Google Maps showing the “Gulf of America” (fair use).