Google Maps now prioritizes greener routes: switch back to faster ones

As of June 2025, Google Maps has rolled out fuel-efficient routing worldwide. That means the app now leans toward greener directions by default, rather than always sending you on the absolute fastest route.

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Google says those route suggestions can lower fuel use, emissions, and what you spend on a drive. It makes those estimates by looking at things like road grade, traffic patterns, and roads where you can keep a steadier speed. You can also make the recommendations more accurate by telling Google Maps whether your car is gas, diesel, hybrid, or electric.

If your main goal is saving a few minutes, on the commute, you’ll probably want to look at this setting. You can switch off “prefer fuel-efficient routes” in Google Maps navigation settings, and the app will default back to the fastest route. Even then, Google Maps will still often show you more than one route before you head out.

Google says eco-routing first launched in the U.S. in 2021, and by June 2025 it had gone global. The company also says the feature has already prevented millions of metric tons of carbon emissions, which it compares to taking hundreds of thousands of cars off the road for a full year.

Still, not everybody buys it. Some drivers say the detours add more traffic lights, more turns, extra congestion, or routes through areas they don’t feel are safe. A campus study from November 2024 also found a gap between Google’s eco-routes and microsimulation models.

According to Google, the setting is available now in Google Maps on iOS and Android worldwide.

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Author: Chema Carvajal Sarabia

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