Use eco-friendly routing on your Google Maps app

Important: These features are only available in select countries.

The Google Maps app shows fuel or energy-efficiency estimates on some routes based on your vehicle’s engine type. The more fuel or energy-efficient the route, the lower your car’s fuel/energy usage and CO2 emissions.

If this feature is turned on, Maps uses fuel or energy-efficiency on top of other factors like real-time traffic and road conditions to choose the best route for you. So besides showing you the fastest route, it will also show you the most efficient one, even if they aren't the same.

When you turn this feature off, you always get the fastest route and Maps won’t factor in fuel or energy-efficiency for route recommendations. However, your fuel or energy-efficiency estimates (based on your engine type) and a green leaf still show up to highlight the most fuel or energy efficient route among all alternates.

How to use eco-friendly routing

Important: Energy-efficient routes for electric vehicles (EVs) don’t include stops to charge.

In the Google Maps app

On your mobile device, open the Google Maps app .
Tap your Profile picture or initial Settings Navigation settings.
Scroll to "Route options."
- To turn eco-friendly routing on or off, tap Prefer fuel-efficient routes.
- To choose your engine type, tap Engine type. Select your engine type tap Done.

After getting directions

On your mobile device, open the Google Maps app .
Search for your destination or tap it on the map.
In the bottom left, tap Directions.
In the bottom bar, swipe up.
Tap Change engine type.
Select your engine type tap Done.

Choose your engine type

Choose the option you use the most:

If you drive a vehicle with an internal combustion engine, choose Gas or Diesel.
If you drive a hybrid or a plug-in hybrid that mostly runs using fuel, choose Hybrid.
If you drive an EV or a plug-in hybrid that mostly runs on electricity, choose Electric.

The most fuel-efficient route suggestion could be different based on the engine type. For example, diesel vehicles’ relative fuel economy advantage is generally greatest in highway driving. Hybrid and electric vehicles tend to provide progressively greater efficiency in stop-and-go city driving and hilly driving environments where they can extensively use and benefit from regenerative braking.

If you don’t choose an engine type, gas or petrol will be the default option as the most common engine type in most countries.

How Google Maps calculates fuel efficiency

Google Maps calculates fuel-efficiency using insights from the US Department of Energy’s National Renewable Energy Laboratory and data from the European Environment Agency. This calculation includes factors that affect your fuel and energy usage and CO₂ emissions, such as:

Average fuel or energy consumption for vehicles in your region
Steepness of hills on your route
Stop-and-go traffic patterns
Types of roads (such as local roads or highways)

Maps shows the most fuel or energy-efficient route when it has roughly the same arrival time as the fastest route. In cases where fuel or energy savings are too small or increase driving time significantly, Maps shows relative fuel or energy savings between routes to help you compare.