Future EVs from General Motors will not include the popular Apple CarPlay and Android Auto technologies that the vast majority of cars – EVs and otherwise – come with today, according to a report by Automotive News. This tech allows users to bypass an automaker's own infotainment system for that of their smart phone. GM will instead have owners use a new infotainment system designed in conjunction with Google, which just so happens to own the Android platform.
Apple CarPlay and Android Auto are hugely popular features in cars today. Nearly every car on sale in the US offers them both. A wired connection between the phone and car was required in the early days of their adoption, but nowadays wireless functionality is common.
There are only a few automakers we can think of that get away with not including Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, not even as options, in its cars. Those include a number of pure EV automakers like Tesla and Rivian. That decision has never been popular with owners, but apparently it's not egregious enough to make them buy a mainstream automaker's EV.
Why would General Motors, like Tesla, choose not to offer two features that are wildly popular with the car-buying public? Neither Apple nor Android charges automakers a fee for including this compatibility in their cars, despite the two tech giants' reputations for taking a cut of every transaction that gets within ten feet of them.
GM might not like that Apple CarPlay and Android Auto gets valuable user data when drivers use their phones instead of the automaker's own infotainment system. That data could be used by GM in any number of ways, including improving navigation routing and other vehicle systems. GM could also sell it to third parties, though we have no evidence it does.
CarPlay Commands Attention:
GM's decision hits Apple harder than it does Google, since the automaker will still be using Android tech in its future infotainment systems. Products like Google Maps and Google Assistant will be tightly integrated into the experience, as well as popular third-party services like Spotify, Audible, and more. Apple, however, will disappear entirely from GM EVs.
The first car this affects will be the 2024 Chevrolet Blazer. While GM will continue offering Apple CarPlay and Android Autos in its gas-powered vehicles, the automaker has pledged to stop selling combustion vehicles entirely by 2025.
Source: Automotive News