If you’re the owner of an electric or plug-in hybrid vehicle you'll know how annoying it is to arrive at a charging station only to find that all ports are occupied.

That's all changed now thanks to Google Maps which means you can see the real time availability of charging ports in the UK and US, so you can know if chargers are available before you head to a station.

Google first added EV charging locations to Maps last October. At the time, the service would show you the number of chargers at each location as well as their wattage, pricing, and reviews from other drivers.

With this latest update, simply search for ‘ev charging stations’ and you can see up-to-date information from networks like Chargemaster, EVgo, SemaConnect and soon, Chargepoint. Click on the charging location and the app will then show other useful information such as port types and charging speeds.

The EV charging information is now available on Google Maps on desktop, Android, iOS and on Google Maps for Android Auto.