Top 10 mobile applications to use by car

The main defect of electric cars remains the low number of charging stations on the road network. ChargeMap helps “e-firmware” by locating all the charging stations. Ideal for planning your long journeys with confidence or locating the nearest terminal if necessary.

The top 5 applications to move by car

The summer holidays are approaching and you are about to take your vehicle. In order to avoid bunch of traffic jams or the dry breakdown, there is a very varied choice of applications facilitating automobile journeys. Some allow you to guide you safely, others to park or even empower your fuel consumption. How to find your way ? Discover the top 5 applications to have in your pocket !

Path to Park: Big Data in the service of your parking

No more stress, nervousness or multiple detours to find a parking space for your car. Parkeon has developed a mobile application facilitating urban parking called Path to Park. The analysis of more than 1.3 billion data collected, including 8,000 in Paris, from parking meters (60% of the global park held by the company), open-data sources such as parking spaces, the holding of outdoor markets as well as field studies, allows parking prediction in each big city in France, each district and even each street. Thus thanks to the GPS location and the statistical model obtained from data, the application offers the driver a list of free places in the area where he wishes to park but also the least congested route associated to achieve it. According to Parkeon, with path to park you are 90% chance of parking yourself.

Screenshots of the Apple Store application

GECO: your traveling companion

You want to reduce your fuel consumption without necessarily reducing your speed. The GECO mobile application is the solution you need. Designed by IFP Energies Nouvelles researchers, this application guides you in your daily trips to help you improve without lengthening your driving time. By entering the characteristics of your vehicle, the number of passengers and thanks to the sensors of your smartphone, the application calculates in real time and according to your journey traveled, the optimal driving mode to adopt and deduces performance indicators:

• The efficiency (or eco-driving) score measures the gap between the energy consumed and the minimum energy reachable on your journey. A note of 8 out of 10 indicates that you could have saved 20% energy;
• The driving score assesses your driving behavior by taking into account your accelerations, your braking and your appearance;
• The safety score reflects your safety safety by detecting too vigorous acceleration and braking as well as thresholds of adhesion crossing.

Your scores are calculated not only according to your driving behavior, but also depending on external factors such as the type of road, traffic or weather conditions. Taking into account the road context in driving evaluation, GECO makes it possible to compare more precisely and fairly the 22,000 users having traveled nearly 2,000,000 kilometers. To the key, 10 to 15% fuel savings. Less consuming is less to spend but also emit less pollutants and less CO 2.

Screenshots of the Apple Store application

ChargeMap: The companion for your trip by electric car

You want to take your electric car to go on vacation, but with an average autonomy of 100 to 150km you are afraid of breaking down. Do not worry, ChargeMap has found the solution by offering a community location service for public charging stations. With a community of more than 60,000 members across Europe, the database of load areas continues to grow day by day. Since 2011, the date of creation of the solution, the application has become an essential tool for anyone looking for a charging station and now has around 100,000 doses in more than 32,000 load areas. With more than 7,500 contributions per month, users of chargemap have the possibility of adding charging points, photos, comments or even reporting a recharge problem. ChargeMap thus constitutes a reference service for owners of electric vehicles and many car manufacturers are already collaborating with this solution like Nissan, Kia, Mitsubishi, BMW or Renault.

Screenshots of the Apple Store application

Waze: the Swiss knife for car trips

A real Swiss knife of your car trip, the Israeli start-up Waze has created this GPS application in 2008 which has been very successful since its launch. Available in more than 180 countries, the application is based on a community of more than 50 million users in order to take into account any traffic jams and slowdowns of your journey. By opening the application, you naturally participate in the collective effort. Many information such as your cruising speed, your untimely stops, your journeys are collected in order to inform other drivers. Thanks to the strength of his community, you will also be informed in real time of the position of fixed radars but also of temporary risk zones. And to avoid falling out of fuel, the application tells you the service stations on your journey as well as the associated price in order to save money by accessing the cheapest station. Finally you will very easily avoid cartographic dead ends thanks to the active community of correctors who works to continually improve and update cards.

Screenshots of the Apple Store application

It is an efficient application that continues to evolve thanks to the community to have quality information permanently.

Google Maps: the transport companion that simplifies your trips

The web giant also offers via its Google Maps application, the possibility of planning a car route. This application does more than indicate the right path to you since it also includes traffic conditions in order to know any traffic jams and slowdowns to adapt your route. Following the acquisition of the Waze start-up in 2013, the Moutain View firm joined real-time data from the Waze application that is based on a user community. The application takes up the features available on the Google Maps website and in particular the Google Street View functionality which will allow you to view places or your destination as if you were there.This application also includes bicycle, on foot or public transport routes.

Screenshot of the Apple Store application

Community services in the spotlight

The different applications are no longer content to indicate to the drivers the route between a starting and destination point. Applications take into account current traffic on the way through the community system. Other solutions also use statistical methods to predict your location, for example. However, it should be noted that no application brings together all of the features and that it is necessary to use several mobile applications during its trip if you want to ensure your end -to -end trip.

Top 10 mobile applications to use by car

59% of French people use their smartphone on the wheel according to the AXA Prevention 2017 barometer. A figure which is explained by the fact that beyond telephony, these real connected pocket computers are full of applications to use by car. Here is the list of the best 2018 mobile applications that facilitate driving and are safe.

Summary of the article

Navigation: Waze

Waze is much more than a simple GPS and trying it is to adopt it ! Its strength is based on its numerous community of users that go back in real time road information: accidents, traffic jams, deformed roads … Waze is thus able to offer you the fastest route depending on the state of road traffic. If the latter evolves along the way, Waze immediately offers you a bis route. This app saves you precious time in addition to telling you your route. Last advantage that contributes to the success of Waze, the famous danger zones which often signal a radar. Waze which is on the way to becoming the reference of navigation apps will be on 2018 natively embedded in the new Ford models.

Driving aid: Coyote

For 49.99 euros per year, 5 million French people have chosen to use Coyote who, in addition to warning of danger zones, constitutes a real driving assistant. Like on Waze, it is the users who go up the live info. Pioneer of collaborative driving assistants, Coyote has evolved to offer an interface capable of competing with free market players that are Waze and other Googlemaps.

Eco-clashes: GECO

Saving fuel becomes child’s play with the free GECO application. Anticipate, take the right report at the right time … The eco-driving coach GECO saves up to 20% in consumption. At the end, you have a debriefing of each of your journeys, a report of your energy performance, a note of efficiency as well as the possibility of measuring other users of the GECO community. What motivate you to save driving your car !

Find a parking space: Parkopedia

Parkopedia is the app that prevents you from going around in circles. She helps you find an available parking space ! With more than 25 million places listed around the world, little chance of having to park in double line. The most: the app indicates the prices and guides you to the place of your choice.

Fuel price: € SENENCE

Thanks to the free community app € SENEN (Android and iOS), you can save on your full. You know the prices at the pump in real time of the fuel you want. As all your savings are listed on the app, you can take stock of the total amount saved every month.

Mobile applications for a virtual observation: E-Constat

You have no observation in the glove box ? Worse, you don’t know how to draw ! Filling an observation will no longer be a problem for you with e-constat, observation app on smartphone. The app uses all the tools on your phone (geolocation, photos) to help you fill your observation.

Mobile application and augmented reality: Mydriveassist

Mydriveassist is a new kind app that uses the images taken from the road by the smartphone to analyze them and help you in your driving. For example, the app can capture the traffic signs, in particular those of speed limitation, and thus warn you in the event of exceeding the speed indicated on the last panel detected.

Find your car: Find My Car Smarter

You are distracted ? You don’t have a sense of orientation ? Both ? Find My Car Starter is made for you. This app helps you find the location where you left your car. You will no longer lose your car … unless you lose your phone !

Mobile applications for music: Deezer

Nothing like relaxing while listening to good music. With Deezer, infinity of songs is available. There is a free version of Deezer but which imposes ads between each song. The paid version is 9.99 euros per month.

Recharge terminals: ChargeMap

The main defect of electric cars remains the low number of charging stations on the road network. ChargeMap helps “e-firmware” by locating all the charging stations. Ideal for planning your long journeys with confidence or locating the nearest terminal if necessary.

Mobile applications make our smartphone a real co-pilot but its use remains dangerous by driving. Do not be distracted and stay attentive to the road.

Anne-Charlotte Laugier

Anne-Charlotte Laugier, journalist, blogger and novelist (Ramsay).