Google Maps Live Lane Guidance Will Tell You When to Change Lanes

The new feature will debut on the 2026 Polestar 4

Polestar 4 Google Maps Live Lane Guidance
  • A new Google Maps feature aims to help guide drivers on highway journeys.
  • Using camera images, Live Lane Guidance figures out which lane the car is in.
  • The new feature uses visual and audible prompts to help avoid a missed exit.

Navigation apps like Apple Maps and Waze already tell drivers which lane they need to be in on the highway to follow the next direction. But if you're not paying close attention, it's easy to miss this subtle nudge. Next thing you know, you're rerouted to another exit, which may be miles away, and then told to loop back around to get where you were headed in the first place.

Google Maps has a solution. The ubiquitous navigation aid is introducing Live Lane Guidance for highway driving. It will make its debut on the Polestar 4.

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2026 Polestar 4 driving

Cameras + AI = a helpful alert

This feature goes beyond showing you which lane you should be in — although it does that too. The live part of Live Lane Guidance uses images from the car's forward-facing camera to determine which lane you're actually in so it can prompt you to change lanes if necessary. Alerts come in the form of on-screen text as well as audible prompts.

Live Lane Guidance works by using AI (of course) to recognize things like road markings and road signs and then orienting itself based on that data. A third-party software function making use of OEM vision hardware is possible because of the deeply embedded Android Automotive platform that powers the 4's infotainment system, along with its Google Built-In suite.

2026 Polestar 4 interior

Move left, move right, keep going

The new visualization appears in the Polestar 4's 10.2-inch driver display. A blue highlight shows the lane or lanes that will take you to your next branching point or exit. An arrow icon representing your vehicle shows which lane you're actually in. If it's not one of the ones compatible with your route, the system will politely tell you to move over.

This new feature will arrive in Polestar 4s via an over-the-air update in the coming months. The car is not yet on sale, but we just took a second drive in it to see other improvements enabled by OTA updates. The future has arrived, and hopefully Polestar 4 drivers will arrive more reliably with this assistance.

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David has years of experience as a writer and editor for print and digital automotive publications, including Car and Driver and Road & Track. He can parallel-park a school bus, has a spreadsheet listing every vehicle he's ever tested, and once drove a Lincoln Town Car 63 mph in reverse. When not searching for the perfect used car, he can be found sampling the latest gimmicky foodstuffs that America has to offer.

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Steven Ewing has worked in the automotive industry since 2003. In that time, he's written thousands of articles and tested just as many vehicles. Steven is Edmunds' director of editorial content and has previously been on staff at Winding Road magazine, Autoblog, Motor1.com, CNET, and was the U.S. correspondent for Top Gear magazine. Steven has also contributed to Automobile magazine, Car and Driver, The Drive, Jalopnik, Porsche Panorama, and dozens of other publications. In his spare time, Steven loves to play the drums, cook, and drive his 2000 BMW M Roadster.

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