The Leaf icon indicates that the route selected is eco-friendly and could save you gas
But you do have to enable the app first. To do that, type in the name of any destination. You will see a three-dot menu appear to the right of the box that says “Your location.” Tap on it and hit “Route options.” That will bring you to a new page with an option that reads “Prefer fuel-efficient routes.” Toggle that setting on if you want to save gas. According to the setting, when enabled “Maps will suggest fuel-efficient routes by default when arrival times are similar.”
Just because you use the eco-friendly route it doesn’t mean that you are guaranteed to save the percentage of gas that Google says that you will. That is only an estimate and the reality is that you might not save any fuel at all! Still, the app does give you the option of putting you on a longer route that might not use as much gas as a faster route might.
