I wouldn't even consider buying a car because of their policy around car play. Won't even look at it.
this post was submitted on 23 Mar 2025
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Does all EV require travel destination for battery preconditioning ? If so EV have kind of spying as a feature.
No.
They're all preparing to remove choice as we start to lose competition due to Trump Economy
Fuck Trump, but this one is a bipartisan effort that has been ongoing since the Clinton administration accelerated the deregulation train. There has also been very little action towards anti-competitive practices for a very long time.
Don't get suckered into a red vs blue mindset here. This is a battle against corporate and billionaire abuse of power.
EDIT: If I am being honest, I was all onboard the deregulation train back in the nineties. I was young and ignorant. I never imagined the damage it would bring.
It was a lot more practical for new players to enter most of these markets back in the 90s, before the megacorps started to fully metastasize. Deregulation [of some industries] wasn't the objectively bad choice that hind sight makes it seem like back then, just something worth trying to see if it improved outcomes. Remember, regulations are supposed to regularly change to meet the needs of the time, not be a lifetime commitment one way or the other that the political deadlock of the '00s and '10s made it seem.
before the megacorps started to fully metastasize
Almost the entirety of US car manufacturing is done by three carmakers. It's been like that since at least the end of WW2.
Deregulation [of some industries] wasn't the objectively bad choice that hind sight makes it seem like back then, just something worth trying to see if it improved outcomes.
Well with hindsight we definitely know that we got taken for the ride.
People who rule us are threat actors that exploit everything every chance they get.
You can't reason with these parasites. And it will takes another generation just to roll back all of this bullshit.
There has also been very little action towards anti-competitive practices for a very long time.
Obama establishing the CFPB was a pretty big win for Americans.
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It’s silly but I have no interest in buying or driving cars that don’t support CarPlay. I’m used to it. It is safer for me to drive with a gps/voice control system I am used to. When I’ve had to rent cars that don’t support it it has been awful.
I would feel the same if I was an android user with Android auto.
I do not think every car needs their own system when one’s based on the devices we already use exist. Pisses me off.
I also wish someone would make a base model style EV I don’t need all these stupid extra features. I recently test drove a VW EV and wasn’t amused with the RGB door lighting. What a waste of money. I just want a vehicle to get from A to B.
Ironically, the Chevy Bolt was a perfect car for that. Reasonably priced, no stupid gizmos like retracting door handles, Android Auto, actual buttons for controls... But of course GM killed it. A new version should come out eventually, but who knows if it'll keep the spirit of their old Bolts. For now, the used market hit the sweet spot where it's still a pretty modern car, but it's gone through most of its depreciation from new so it's pretty cheap. Especially with the tax credit.
Full disclosure: DC fast charging sucks on this car. On some pre-2022 models it's non-existent. But it's still excellent for commuting and medium-short trips!
I freaking loved my Bolt. I was planning to get another before I started construction and needed a truck. Then I was planning to get a Bolt after this truck since I wouldn't need it anymore, but they killed it.
Check out the used market! The 2022-23s had an awesome facelift, plus the EUV version is just a little bigger mostly in the back seats
I've been thinking of starting an ev retrofit company for very common cars/platforms. Drop out the drivetrain/fuel system. Install all the necessary replacement bits, and addons for a/c, heat, etc. Piggyback some kind of system so traction control doesn't have an aneurism and make the gauges work right. I would need to find a reliable source for batteries and motors.
Edison Motors is doing that in Canada for light duty trucks. I don't think there's much of a market for it outside that considering the insane amount of labor costs you'd encounter trying to retrofit a vehicle. Best to either sell the kits to DIYers or find those few unicorn buyers who'd be willing to hand you $100k-$200k for 6-12 months worth of labor on a one-off vehicle.
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Frankly CarPlay and Android Auto suck in my opinion compared to iDrive 7 on my BMW.
But… that being said, I do support choice. I wouldn’t even consider a car that doesn’t allow CP/AA as I think it should be up to the consumer to pick which one they want to use.
The Nav system on my Audi Q7 BLOWS compared to Android Auto. It can't seem to understand a damn thing I say.
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That's what I love about my '23 Yaris. The entertainment system is basically a radio and hybrid telemetry. Everything else is CarPlay/Android Auto. No shitty outdated maps, no 90'-style MP3 player...
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IMO cars that have their own infotainment system should also allow Android Auto and Apple CarPlay. Give the user a choice. Collect metrics about how many people use Android Auto / CarPlay vs the native infotainment system. Maybe survey people who use Android Auto or CarPlay often to see what they think is missing from the native infotainment system. Iterate. Get people to use the native infotainment because it's better, not because you force them to.
I've got a BMW iX and the in-built map is very good, but I like knowing that I can switch to Android Auto if I encounter issues with it.
Yeah but if you allow people to choose, you can't force them to use your apps and buy within your walled garden.
You're missing out on all that revenue.
That's true and I hate it. I miss the older days of the internet when protocols were mostly open and people were more focused on collaboration and interoperability.
Why can't it just work like a dock for any device? Why does it have to be carplay or android auto with locked down protocols?
Because of ✨capitalism✨.
It's an anticompetitive practice, that's why.
I discovered a simple upgrade for the infotainment systems in most cars. The screens work perfectly well with either suction or adhesive-mount phone holders.
Even the shittiest phone is a major upgrade compared to any built-in infotainment system.
Don't buy cars like this, that's the only thing that will help.
And considering it’s GM, it’s not really hard to avoid buying them when there are better options.
I ran into this with my 2013 Kia Sorento ICE (which was subsequently totalled. :( )
When you replace the on-board infotainment system, there's an interoperability package that has to be installed to make sure the existing functions of the vehicle continue to work.
Think of it like a translation layer, everything on the dashboard that went through the old system, has to be hooked up to the new system. Also complicated by steering wheel controls.
When it was all said and done, I had the full array of cameras that I wanted (turn signal cameras are amazing!) and everything worked...
Except the one little button that changed the interior lighting. It was forever stuck on red.
Now, for an EV, it's essential everything work properly. I can totally see GM shutting that down.
This is kind of like the complaint about EVs not having AM radios... yeah, there's a reason for that!
https://www.autosinnovate.org/posts/blog/not-cheap-a-3.8-billion-fix-for-am-radio-in-evs
Putting your vehicle main control inside the head unit is absurd to begin with.
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I got the head unit changed in my Subaru . In the Subaru, the systems that the Head Unit controls (entertainment system, backup cam, Sat NAV) are totally separate from critical systems. So everything the head unit controls can fail and the car will still work.
And you're right, there's an interface/translation layer . In my case the guy used an iDataLink Maestro. It seems the only thing the iDataLink company does provide interfaces that allow head units to talk to car computers, so that the Head unit manufacturers don't have to bother.
I'm not sure such separation is common in EVs.
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Don’t you dare give consumers what they want.
Slightly related. Wtf happened to the Apple CarPlay 2.0 thing that was supposed to fully integrate into the center console and digital dashboard screens that would allow the in-built UI to be overridden completely?
Manufacturers are contemplating how to win back control over the UI of their vehicles. They remain completely oblivious to why CarPlay succeeded in the first place.
From an engineer at one of the legacy car manufacturers, they don’t want CarPlay 2 because it has privacy controls. They don’t want to give up so much access to the car, then have to access it over Apple APIs limited by privacy controls
I came to this conclusion shortly after posting this. Thanks for the confirmation.
https://www.astonmartin.com/en-us/models/db12
I think, it is in this car
That settles it then, I'm getting an Aston (like I needed more reasons to lust after them haha).
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Bought a 2015 mustang and had to upgrade the Sync2 to Sync3 for about $1300. That’s when CarPlay was capable with Sync3. Made the car a thousand times better.
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