Overview
- The GPS speedometer began appearing this week in Google Maps for some Android Auto users, with multiple reports tied to version 26.29.02 and confirmed sightings in India and Canada.
- Users must enable both the 'Tempolimit' (speed limit) and 'Tachometer' options in Google Maps on their phone for the readout to show on the car display and Google has not issued an official announcement.
- The new tachometer calculates speed from GPS position changes, which can be more precise than some vehicle instrument clusters but can lag or drop out in tunnels, parking garages, and dense urban canyons where satellite reception is poor.
- Road-safety experts at DEKRA warn that adding on-screen information increases driver distraction risk and point to crash data linking distraction to thousands of accidents and serious injuries in 2024.
- The change narrows a long-standing feature gap with Apple CarPlay and may prompt more smartphone-driven instrument displays in cars, though Google’s server-side, wave-based rollout means broad availability and practical reliability remain unclear.