Google Maps not staying awake with external power connected...???

Why did my google maps stop staying awake when I have it hooked up to power in my car, after 2.2...

I recently got an iPhone 3G and started to use it to help me keep track of traffic on my way to work and home in my car. At first I used it with out a power cord, but about 3 weeks ago I got a car charger cable for it, and a holder thing. I was pleased to find that when I have the power connected and google maps open the phone did not auto lock, it just dimmed the screen, I could tap once and glance at the phone and see my location vs the traffic colors and make choices on the fly about what way to go.

Now, after 2.2, it almost never stays awake when maps is running and power is plugged in...
At first i thought I had figured out how to get it to work as I have grown to expect it to. plug in the power first then run Maps, but as of yesterday evening that proved to not work.

there should be an option in Maps to let us choose to keep the phone from locking if it has external power, it's VERY much more unsafe in my opinion to make it so people have to mess with unlocking the phone when they want to check traffic again. And, it's also much slower to reacquire your current location rather than just un-dim the screen and see. 😟

also, the same day as 2.2 came out, and even before I installed it, I noticed that google maps started to have real issues loading map data...